If you actually visit my blog, instead of just reading the feed, you'll notice that I'm experimenting with Explode, a new social networking tool made by the same folks working on Elgg. It's a temporary addition, unless I decide that it's worth hanging on to. I'm not yet sure of its value -- but I believe it might have some.
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AUTHOR: Donald H Taylor
EMAIL: donald@donaldhtaylor.co.uk
IP: 82.44.196.210
URL: http://www.donaldhtaylor.co.uk
DATE: 03/13/2007 03:35:22 AM
It's also how I found your blog. Might be worth sticking with for a bit to see how it pans out.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Baxter Tocher
EMAIL: btocher@gmail.com
IP: 82.41.43.97
URL: http://www.btocher.com/
DATE: 03/11/2007 10:09:03 AM
I, too, wouldn't have arrived at your blog if I didn't have an account at Explode.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eduardo Peirano
EMAIL: onlinesa@onlinesapiens.com
IP: 200.108.201.224
URL: http://onlinesapiens.com/blog
DATE: 03/03/2007 08:18:21 AM
Hi,
I found you and your blog via Explode. That's a good reason to continue using their widget. It's very useful for networking
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 24.215.80.93
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 02/25/2007 06:39:01 AM
anything that gets our faces on your webpage is a good thing!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Framing Blogging - Making Connections
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Wikis
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 02/22/2007 10:02:10 PM
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One of my great frustrations lately as a teacher is that I am not having more success teaching blogging, as in blogging the verb ala Will Richardson, to my students. The value of blogging, as I've come to learn, is in the way that it requires that I interact with source material, either another blogger or any other text that I can find to quote and think about. That interaction with sources is what I think is so, so, so essential in the education of students. If we are to teach students to teach themselves, we must focus our efforts on areas of basic communication and areas of interacting with other information. I know that statement is probably preaching to the choir, but maybe not.
Lots of the "successful" uses of blogs out there are those that aren't really about interacting with sources. Posting homework online, unless the homework is source-specific, isn't blogging, although it is a step in the right direction.
I've had some small successes here and there, but I'm finding it funny and sad that I am unable to successfully share the one best learning tool in my personal arsenal with the students that I work with.
I could bemoan that the problem isn't with me, or with my methods, it's with the community/school/students/parents/etc. But what good does that do? Such excuses would make me feel better, but they wouldn't be me teaching -- they'd be me giving up. As I step back from day to day writing instruction while my very able student teacher steps up, I'm thinking again about how to teach blogging rather than writing with blogs.
For two different quarters in two different school years, I have been attempting to better incorporate blogging into my speech course, English 10B, a standard course for students in the tenth grade in my district. I figured then, and still think now, that using a blog as both a research log as well as a tool for reflection while preparing for a speech was a good idea. To that end, I encouraged students to write three kinds of posts. I'll admit that we all got a little stuck as we learned how to navigate between our own blogs and the blogs of our classmates. We used Bloglines as our aggregator and Blogger as our blogging tool. Too much software. Elgg has mostly solved that problem, as it serves as both blog and aggregator. Too cool.
While I was pleased that my students began to tentatively share their ideas with the world, I felt that my instruction was not as thorough as it might have been. I understood that one of the powers of blogging is the ability to connect to the writing of others in some pretty tangible ways. But I don't know that I communicated that to my students as successfully as I would have liked.
This isn't a post about tools. It's a post about content. But the tools and the content are beginning to, or have always been, running together and affecting the other. My students, or me, or you, or anyone can't learn how to write connectively without first learning how to make those connections. I'm not an expert, but I think it makes sense to try to articulate the different types of links that are possible in a blog post. I recognize that such a list is limiting, but I need to wrap my brain around these ideas a little bit. (Here's a wiki version of my list, which is by no means complete. Feel free to make it better.) I see several different types of linking that I should be explicitly teaching:
This is certainly first draft thinking; please keep that in mind. How are you teaching your students to link? What have I missed? Is there a better list out there? Again, here's the link to the wiki version of this list -- help me improve it. I'm eager for some feedback, as well as conversation, about how to teach blogging and not writing with blogs.
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AUTHOR: Marilyn Olander
EMAIL: olander@nova.edu
IP: 207.207.66.223
URL:
DATE: 03/01/2007 04:28:50 PM
Hi,
It seems to me that there are two different issues at play here, the noun "a blog" and the verb "to blog." The first is relatively easy, while the second is more complex, more difficult to teach and to learn.
For most of their school lives, students are trained to know learning as a noun. They go to a class, write a paper, take a test, listen to a lecture, complete a homework assignment in a closed loop of teacher -> task -> grade. There are occasional excursions outside this loop, for instance when students work together in small groups to critique each other's papers (not always a useful exercise if they don't have the tools to recognize what they see and provide useful explanations), or to complete a joint project. But the loop is still there, with the teacher the final word on the value of whatever it is.
A blog is different, but still a noun. However, it is in a different realm altogether: blog posts are public voices. Students need to have the time first to recognize the sounds of their voices, and then to realize that they have become part of a community when they post at all, when someone responds to something posted, or they decide to write a comment to a post. That is the perfect opportunity to start the transition to "blog" as a verb: to remind students that their engaging with others via a blog is a variation of what they are already doing outside of school via text messaging and other interactive communication.
Writing as a tool can't really be regarded separately: it is the essence of both "a blog" as a public voice and "to blog" is an act of communication -- with all the possibilities to come for enrichment of the blog post itself, of the thinking that precedes writing, of the reading that helps prompt writing, of the networking via links and threaded conversations with others.
I agree with Tony: students make some transitions from blogs to blogging naturally and indirectly. More complex uses of blogs that change the focus to the verb -- from the writing to the person doing the writing -- evolve with time and experience: learning to use links, learning how to read and think and be prompted by ideas rather than assignments, learning to reach out and become part of a network of thinking writers. And all of that must still be in the context of what children (elementary, middle, high school) are capable of doing. Not all learning is readily discernible . . .
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 74.254.175.226
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/26/2007 09:10:39 AM
This semester I am really trying to get my students to make connections with their blogging. One way that I am trying to do this is by totally changing the assignment. I asked students to choose a topic that they are interested in. I didn't care what the topic was as long as they were willing to read and write about it for a semester. (Of course, my students are college age seminary students, so I am fairly safe leaving it so open.) Each week they are to find an article online or in print media dealing with their topics, briefly summarize the article and then reflect on it in some way. While we are pretty much just beginning with this, I am impressed with how much better it is going than other blogging assignments have.
What I have not tried to do really is have them read blogs (other than each others') and connect to them. My students are still a little afraid of blogs. I would gradually like to introduce them to blogs related to their topics, though, and encourage them to write about posts in them. Maybe next month...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 02/25/2007 09:07:36 PM
Tony,
I'd love to see your blog. I'm finding that I need to teach some of what makes blogging so powerful explicitly. I thought I could teach it implicitly -- but I think I was wrong. I'd love to see how you're finding success.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tony Iannone
EMAIL: anthony.iannone@cms.k12.nc.us
IP: 72.146.134.63
URL:
DATE: 02/25/2007 08:10:10 AM
This a very interesting subject...I just finished reading the Framing Blogging post...right now...I'm in the "frame" of mind that our blog...Go Furthur...is a space to write. I really haven't "taught" my students how to blog...but in a way...I have...the way I "frame" the narrative for each post gives my students an idea of the type of writing that should be happening. For example...the Let's Chat post on our blog allows students to connect to each other or myself. Have I actually used the comments on the post to teach my students how to connect to each other? No. Should I? I don't know. What happens when I do that? I run the risk of getting back what Mr. Eye wants. Do I want that? Not necessarily. This is just one example though. I have another post on our blog that relates to literature I read to the class. Students comment about the text and connect to themselves as well as the world while doing so. Did I show them how to do this? No. Is that bad. I don't think so. So what am I saying here? I guess its that you can teach students how to blog without teaching them...directly. By providing a narrative that leads students to explore and make the connections on their own...that's where I'm at right now.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 02/23/2007 04:13:41 PM
Eric -- I think you're right to teach blogging as a way to think about audience and purpose and all of those things. I use blogs for those reasons, too. But I think teaching blogging as a skill of its own has value, and lots of it, for the reasons that Connie mentions in her comment.
Bonnie -- I'd recommend checking out EducationBridges.net, an Elgg set up by Worldbridges. It's for folks who want to dabble as well as communicate with other educators.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bonnie Kaplan
EMAIL: blkdrama@mac.com
IP: 68.192.132.55
URL:
DATE: 02/23/2007 07:16:08 AM
Hi Bud,
I have your blog on my bloglines account and love reading your posts. I just linked your post to my tech team blog. It's perfect for the issues that we face as a team with blogging. I love to blog, but can't seem to keep them working on it.
I am in the process of setting up another group blog. I wanted to create one of elgg but they aren't accepting new groups. I see that you are experimenting with Excite that operates by them as well. Can I create a group there? Any suggestions with other places?
Bonnie
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Connie Lindsey
EMAIL: texasschoolmarm@gmail.com
IP: 63.174.146.91
URL:
DATE: 02/23/2007 05:39:39 AM
Bud,
You are on target when you state that this is a question of content, not tools. Beyond that, however, it involves critical thinking about research. Teaching kids to read one article, poem, story in the light of another previously read and to see connections is challenging. We are asking them to read broadly and to see connections, two things my students have always resisted. But if we are to REALLY teach research, that is what we must teach, not just how to use library databases and make an accurate citation. I love it that you are working on this skill through blogging. If only students realize that they do this same connective writing any time they do authentic research.
Enjoyed your post!
Connie Lindsey
Pearl of the Concho Writing Project
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric T. MacKnight
EMAIL: ericmacknight@mac.com
IP: 58.210.106.77
URL: http://www.EricMacKnight.com/
DATE: 02/23/2007 12:34:23 AM
Hi Bud,
This is really interesting. As an English teacher, my focus has been on using blogging as a way to motivate my students to write more, to write for real audiences, and to write more authentically than they usually do in school assignments. You can read my latest reflections on all of this I need to do a better job of explicit instruction in regards to blogging with my students. I'm working on some posts in regards to what I'm doing and how and why -- but before those are ready for press, I'm finding myself trying to better articulate how to hyperlink
To that end, last semester, I began toying with a model or frame or form or what have you for teaching blogging.
I am afraid to publish this, because I don't want to be misconstrued. I don't think frames and models are the be all end all of writing. I do think, for blogging, a new idea, they might be necessary.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Hunch
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 02/20/2007 04:15:53 PM
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UPDATE (2/21/07): I didn't do a good job of making my point in the post above, so I'll try again. The reason I'm mentioning the block of Google Video is because it appears to me that someone in a private company somewhere made a decision about the value (or lack thereof) of a particular website. Then, that individual, without consultation with or consideration of, schools that (are required by federal law to) use their product (or another one like it), applied the filter to that website.
That's too simple. It should take more thought and effort and discussion to turn off a piece of the Internet in a public school in the United States of America. It should be hard.
But it isn't, and that's sad.
I am not against the careful use of filters. Some stuff has no business at school. But we should be erring on the side of too open, not too closed.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Pass
EMAIL: ap@pass-ed.com
IP: 75.206.44.52
URL: http://www.pass-ed.com/Living-Textbook.html
DATE: 02/22/2007 09:51:07 PM
Bud,
I completely agree. It should be very difficult to block information from getting into American public schools. If we make it easy to block one thing, then it will be easier to block the next thing and so on. Eventually, everything will be blocked but the material that somebody deems is appropriate for others to see. This reminds me of something: Was it the Soviet Union? Was it Nazi Germany?
Thanks for your post.
Andrew Pass
http://www.pass-ed.com/Living-Textbook.html
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 167.86.1.223
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/22/2007 11:36:54 AM
Is it blocked altogether, or is just the search function blocked? Our filter currently blocks the search function, but not direct links to videos. (And using Google's advanced search with video.google.com or youtube.com for the domain sometimes works). I know this would be difficult for a filter company, but they need to find a way to block offending videos, not the entire site. While difficult, that is their job. If that turns out to be impossible, then that just points again to how problematic trying to filter the Internet is . . .
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben Wilkoff
EMAIL: benjamin.wilkoff@dcsdk12.org
IP: 205.169.164.65
URL: http://yongesonne.edublogs.org
DATE: 02/21/2007 02:56:51 PM
Thank you for mentioning my post in your critique of the filtering that 8e6 technologies is doing right now. I agree that many of our Technology Directors are more concerned with filtering the content, rather than preserving the resources. There is so much more to social software than the content. They are ways of huddling around an area of interest, of making knowledge into a virus. I wrote the post that you linked to originally as a way of getting my kids excited about protesting our district's decision (and ultimately 8e6's). Many of my students have taken me up on the offer and a few of them have added their posts to our del.icio.us account (http://del.icio.us/weeklyauthentic/google_video). I would love to see more students start sticking up for their learning experiences, and I think that we owe it to them to do so as well.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 216.56.42.130
URL: http://www.pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 02/21/2007 07:49:51 AM
Frustrating.
I sat in a meeting yesterday with about 15 area technology directors and the sales team from Cisco. Every other sentence was about how the boogey man was out to get them and that they needed to buy this or that line of products to protect their networks.
The area tech directors weren't too pleased when I went on an extended line of questioning with Cisco asking a) what would it take to put together a regional mesh network or b) how realistic are the cellular networks when it comes to data. Both questions were framed as circumventing school networks. :o)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Footnotes? Me?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 02/20/2007 03:55:35 PM
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I never thought I'd say/write this, but I'm finding that I need a way to create footnotes in a blog entry. I use Typepad. Does anyone know of how/where I can create footnotes, preferably linkable ones, inside of my blog?
I'm writing a big post, and I need the ability to annotate it. Suggestions?
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AUTHOR: Ewan McIntosh
EMAIL: ewan.mcintosh@blueyonder.co.uk
IP: 194.200.14.141
URL: http://edu.blogs.com
DATE: 03/06/2007 04:43:19 AM
Why not just write your annotations in the extended post area?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill Fitzgerald
EMAIL: bill@openacademic.com
IP: 67.160.162.39
URL: http://www.openacademic.org
DATE: 02/22/2007 04:05:42 PM
http://drupal.org/project/footnotes
Cheers,
Bill
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 02/21/2007 09:39:33 PM
Thanks for the suggestions. I was hoping for something "easier," but I'll give a couple of these a try.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
EMAIL: snbeach@cox.net
IP: 70.160.174.8
URL: http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com
DATE: 02/21/2007 05:49:04 AM
RJH! This is great. I will try it. I too need this technique greatly. I just gave up on footnotes.
Thanks
Sheryl
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: RJH
EMAIL: rhale04@gmail.com
IP: 66.65.196.57
URL: http://www.morecoffeeplease.com
DATE: 02/20/2007 06:39:54 PM
I use them in my blog all the time. I'm using word press, so it may not work, but the html is:
for the superscript:
[sup]a href="#footnote1"[1]/a][/sup]
and for the note on the bottom:
[hr/]
[p class="footnote"][strong][a title="footnote1" name="footnote1"][/a]1[/strong]
The [hr/] tag is for the line at the bottom, and obviously the "1" and such change for successive footnotes. As I said, just about every entry has a few.
However, in order to get it to work, each of the brackets []needs to become an arrow<, facing in around the code, like this: < >. I keep it in a text document and cut and paste.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Liz Ditz
EMAIL: ponytrax@batnet.com
IP: 75.33.141.77
URL: http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2007/02/julie_ameros_le.html
DATE: 02/20/2007 05:03:25 PM
I don't know the "real" way, but you can cheat. Make one post per footnote, backdate the post (however much you want), and link to the post.
It's kind of 20th century, but it works.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL: dana.huff@gmail.com
IP: 75.138.64.174
URL: http://www.huffenglish.com/
DATE: 02/20/2007 04:40:31 PM
What about page anchors? Do you know how to do those? I can show you if you want.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Badges? Do We Need a Badge?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 02/18/2007 02:44:49 PM
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When I find myself having dry spells here at the blog, I try to venture out and do lots of commenting. Commenting is essential -- it's not a conversation if it's only one-way. I like that Alan's formalized that process here. While I don 't know that I'll pick one week to forego posting for commenting, expect that, when this space is void of new posts, I'm off making comments elsewhere.
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AUTHOR: Alan
EMAIL: cogdogblog@gmail.com
IP: 69.19.14.44
URL: http://cogdogblog.com/
DATE: 02/18/2007 06:44:27 PM
Hi Bud, During my week of commenting only, I almost accidentally stumbled onto your post, how ironic! After 2 days or so of commenting on blogs currently in my reader, I started traveling from links to blogs off of some edubloggers (gulp, I just admitted I don't subscribe to your feed, blush).
It's been an interesting process, and pretty much you can still write ideas, but most of all, it reinforces my long held notion that blogging is participatory, not just yelling from the top of a mountain.
An woah, what a blog roll you have, lots of links for me to go off anr rummage for a place to comment!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bing Miller
EMAIL: cmiller@branford.k12.ct.us
IP: 69.182.167.22
URL: http://literaturecirclesintheclassroom.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/18/2007 03:44:13 PM
Bud: I've enjoyed your blog and your comprehensive resource sites, which have been helpful in getting me up to date with my teaching and discovering the rich possibilities of Web 2.0. I like this idea about commenting on other's blogs. Since I began in November, I've struggled with what to post. I know that every time I sit in front of my computer struggling with what to write, I get a glimpse into how our students must feel. It also may be a case of self-confidence, especially as I see the creative people out there sharing their ideas. So far, the most difficult thing I've encountered as I've brought these tools and skills into the classroom is getting students to understand the power of viewing and responding to one another's work. As an English teacher, I've spent quite a bit of instructional time teaching students to take part in discussions. This is the logical companion piece to that. Maybe the first step is for me to feel more comfortable and model the process. Thanks again for your guidance and insight!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tim
EMAIL: schlep4life@hotmail.com
IP: 75.23.100.228
URL:
DATE: 02/18/2007 01:51:17 PM
I feel the same way you do, commenting is essential, not only while blogging, but in everyday life. Whether it be in the classroom giving a lecture, conversations, or discussions, it is important to have constant feedback. Taking the information provided to you, you can improve upon what you do - fine tuning your skills to make it meaningful and worthwhile. So many times, people don't want to hear about how they are doing, and those are the ones who do not do well, especially in the classroom. Without comments, or feedback what-so-ever, there is no way to know what you are doing right and wrong. It should be a "two-way street," the students should hear from you and you from them. No one is perfect and we could all use some help now and again.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Leading? Me(me)?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
DATE: 02/16/2007 04:30:30 PM
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I believe the original intention of the question was to get administrators to blog about some of their leadership skills -- but I think teachers can and should lead in the classroom and in educational reform efforts. Here goes:
When I say that I don't like ham, I mean that I always like to
know why something is either being done TO me or BY me. If the "why"
doesn't make sense, I work as best as I can to change the situation so
that it does. Good leaders are always looking for the ham stuff in their organizations, groups, or selves.
6. Laughter. This world is full of heartache and pain and disappointment and hurt. Does every meeting have to be painful? Every chance I can, when it's appropriate, I like to make a joke. It's part of who I am, costs nothing, and keeps things grounded.
Time to tag. If you're in a position of leadership in a school environment, consider yourself fair game for this one. Tag.
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AUTHOR: Sara
EMAIL: sempre_con_fuoco@yahoo.com
IP: 74.135.16.149
URL:
DATE: 02/19/2007 11:39:17 PM
I found this blog entry particularly interesting because of the eclectic mix of leadership qualities it contains. While the first four items are characteristics that one would typically associate with leadership, the next three are certainly unique and extremely important. I was particularly glad to find that the blogger included laughter and knowing when to quit as important attributes. In today's high paced society, I feel that the idea of a 'leader' has gotten somewhat warped, and completely lack those two qualities. Today, society looks at television shows like 'The Apprentice' and others, and there we see leadership being equated with hard-nosed, dead-serious people who give off an image of infallibility. This not only is very unrealistic, but is something I find to be downright unproductive in most cases (most issues are difficult enough to solve without having to deal with the ego of a 'leader' on top of it), and can be harmful to the personal well-being and stability of one trying to be a 'leader' themselves. I feel that the qualities listed here get to the core of what true leadership is about.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
EMAIL: snbeach@cox.net
IP: 70.160.174.8
URL: http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com
DATE: 02/17/2007 05:18:40 PM
You are a natural leader. I enjoyed this post. I would love to discuss your ideas on teacher leadership at some point. Have you ever thought about it much?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dan Benesh
EMAIL: d_benesh@hotmail.com
IP: 24.89.72.192
URL: http://mrbenesh.edublogs.org
DATE: 02/17/2007 02:48:59 AM
I don't know if I have commented on your blog before, Bud, but I really do enjoy it. I particularly liked your point about the ham. I posted a link to this article and a response on my blog, http://mrbenesh.edublogs.org.
Dan
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Louann
EMAIL: Louann.Reid@colostate.edu
IP: 71.56.245.151
URL:
DATE: 02/16/2007 10:12:57 PM
A conversation about what makes a good leader is getting started over on the CEL (Conference on English Leadership) blog. If I knew how to connect yours to theirs, I'd just do that, but since I don't, I thought I'd alert you to it at www.nctecel.blogspot.com.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Using Us/ing
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/08/2007 11:27:39 PM
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Last fall, I was asked by an administrator in my building if I would be interested in participating in a Restorative Justice training offered by a school/community partnership in my school district. I agreed, as I did not know too much about Restorative Justice, but I was intrigued by the idea of an approach to discipline that was less about blame and punishment and more about uncovering and restoring harm done to a community. Too often, I think, the punishment for acting out or being disobedient in school is removal from school. That's not really a punishment that fits the offense, particularly when the offender isn't really all that interested in school to begin with.
There are plenty of good resources out ther if you would like to know more about Restorative Justice, but here's a basic definition,
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Big Girl Bed is a Big Girl Deal
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 02/07/2007 09:23:27 PM
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I expected that tonight would be a night of constant interruption as Ani explored the boundaries of her new "big girl bed." Boy was I wrong.
While she was quite excited by the sight of the green and purple doll house, it was a one-story night, as she was eager to "go to bed (in her big girl bed)." She went right to sleep, and all is peaceful.
Funny how often our expectations are challenged, both as parents and as educators, isn't it?
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AUTHOR: Digital Father
EMAIL: dad@digitalfather.com
IP: 166.109.117.108
URL: http://digitalfather.com
DATE: 02/08/2007 06:50:26 AM
I remember when my kids moved up to the big bed. They seemed so much bigger for having a big bed, but so small in comparison. My daughter's big girl bed is inhabited by 45 pounds of stuffed friends, so it would be easy to lose her on it.
The big bed also meant we could come in and do the "flying tackle goodnight hug." That's my favorite.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 216.120.146.60
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 02/08/2007 06:38:57 AM
Awesome news Bud. Glad to hear everything went so smoothly. Hope it's just as easy the second time around with the new baby when it comes :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner.graham@gmail.com
IP: 59.100.140.8
URL: http://gwegner.edublogs.org
DATE: 02/08/2007 05:01:48 AM
We got all prepared for our youngest recent move into the big bed and even had the old cot in his room should he become emotional over the whole deal during his first night. It was a non-event - the new bed was where he wanted to be and could we get rid of the other old piece of furniture as soon as possible please? It may be a bigger deal for parents than for the child, hey!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: teaching vs me
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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DATE: 02/06/2007 10:08:50 PM
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Lately, I feel like this blog has been less about teaching and more about me. That's not necessarily a problem -- it is, after all, MY blog. But I feel sometimes that I'm drifting from teaching in this space - and wondering if that's a good thing or not.
Certainly, several people have decided the best solution for them is to post about family in one place and work in another.
But how real is that, really?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: About to be a Big Girl
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 02/06/2007 09:45:19 PM
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Sometimes my online life and my offline one seem to blur together a little bit -- and I forget to tell one group things that I've told the other -- and vice versa. This became clear to me yesterday when I was having a chat and mentioned that we were preparing Ani to move to a "big girl bed" in order to free up her crib for her soon to be born sister.
The thing is, I hadn't mentioned that we were expecting. So I'm mentioning it.
Ani's going to be a big sister on or around graduation day in late May of this year. Pretty cool, huh?
As I'm writing this, Ani is sleeping for (her mother and I hope) the last time in a crib. Her new bed arrives tomorrow, and we begin the process of sleeping in a bed. Cross your fingers for us, okay? It's certainly not a big deal, but it'll add a little stress and excitement to our lives.
I hope it goes well. I'm a little sad, though, as my little girl's already beginning to outgrow pieces of her world. Man, it's all happening so fast.
In fact, soon, she won't be my little girl anymore. That title, like the crib, will soon pass to her sister.
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AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 71.225.57.35
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 02/07/2007 06:24:55 PM
Mazel Tov! That's wonderful!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 74.254.175.226
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/07/2007 12:06:35 PM
Congratulations! Now that my grandchildren are as old as most of the children mentioned in the other comments, I can only say that the time goes even more quickly than you can imagine. Of course, there may be a stretch in there where it seems like it can't go fast enough! But enjoy it all. Even the tough times are precious in retrospect.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 216.120.146.60
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 02/07/2007 09:26:44 AM
Congrats Bud!
You'll have to keep us filled in on how things go with the transition to the new bed. Any tips and tricks you pick up in helping make the switch would be terrific for a father that's going to have to do the same in 6 months :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 207.161.78.10
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 02/07/2007 06:26:02 AM
Geez. Here I was going to come and offer some advice on going from one to two as a proud "owner" of two small people myself. But who can compete with Kelly's story!!!???? 7 Kids? Do you think he has shares in Tylenol? What about in Budweiser?
Anyway. My sincere congratulations Bud.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Turner
EMAIL: thomas.turner@polk-fl.net
IP: 71.101.56.210
URL: http://tnturner.edublogs.org
DATE: 02/07/2007 04:23:55 AM
Being the first she like Kelly said will ALWAYS be your little girl. Sit back and watch, take it all in. You are right, they grow so fast. My oldest is now 8 going on 18 it seems. I missed alot because I was selfish and was gaming, and I hate myself for it. Enjoy em while they are young, cause as they get older...they learn to ask for stuff and money, and that ain't cheap!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cindy
EMAIL: birdawg@carlina.rr.com
IP: 71.75.64.216
URL: http://teachingthatmatters.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/07/2007 03:46:12 AM
Very cool indeed! Good luck with the bed move and with the new baby - exciting times to be sure!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kelly Christopherson
EMAIL: kwhobbes@mac.com
IP: 207.195.79.254
URL: http://www.kwhobbes.edublogs.org
DATE: 02/06/2007 11:14:47 PM
Bud,
I'm here to tell you that they are ALWAYS your little girl! As a father of 7 children, I can tell you that they may grow up but they will always be your children, no matter how old they get. My own children range from 2 to 14. There are days when I wonder where the time went and what have I missed. However, I as I watch them turn into young adults, I realize that I only have them for a short time so I'd better do a darn good job of building that foundation. As my two older daughters enter the teenage years, I wistfully remember them as little girls and all the things that we did and smile because we did all those things together. Spend time with them Bud. Everything else can wait. Everything!
Kelly
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I Haven't seen the whole video . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Storytelling
DATE: 02/06/2007 12:05:00 PM
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I sure will.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Here We Go Again
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 01/28/2007 09:48:24 PM
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for the past several weeks, I've found myself without the time to blog. Well, that's mostly true. Turns out that, when I had the time, I didn't know quite what to say, or how to say it.
I got stuck.
Part of being stuck came out of my comments about groups. As careful as I tried to be, I hurt some feelings, and I didn't articulate my position as well as I would've liked to on that issue.
Do I think people can, should and do form affinity groups for a bunch of really good reasons? Yes, of course I do. I belong to several groups and will continue to join groups when I think they're doing good work that I can be helpful with. What I don't understand, and continue to struggle with, is the general idea that one more group or one more wiki or one more attempt to collaborate will solve all (or even lots) of the big problems that we face. That's probably my issue. I own it; I'll keep working through it, too. Thanks for your patience.
As for being stuck -- well, it happens. As a writer, I face getting stuck all the time. Same's true for blogging, I reckon.
The trouble is, when I'm having trouble in my writer's notebook, I can take a break for a while and not feel audience pressure.
But somewhere along the way, people started reading this blog. And that's wonderful/terrible/freaking amazing/terrifying/Captain Billy Whizbang. There's a pressure to publish, and when I get stuck, the slight pressure to do so builds up. Which is a problem.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Furl vs. Del.icio.us
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Bookmarking
DATE: 01/28/2007 08:24:37 PM
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. He has developed some python-based tools for Furl->Delicious transfer.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Troy Hicks
EMAIL: hickstro@msu.edu
IP: 76.20.144.171
URL: http://hickstro.org
DATE: 02/17/2007 10:42:17 PM
Hi Bud,
Since del.icio.us won't take XML imports, could you export your Furl bookmarks in the "IE Bookmarks" format and then upload it to del.icio.us?
As a long-time Furler, I haven't really made the switch to anything else, so I don't know if this would work or not.
Troy
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Hoefler
EMAIL: ehoefler@gmail.com
IP: 208.31.155.254
URL: http://sicheiiyazhi.com
DATE: 01/29/2007 05:34:04 AM
I'm sorry to leave what may be an unhelpful comment. I don't know the answer to your question.
However, I just added diigo to my set of online tools. It lets you archive pages like Furl, but also highlight and annotate with sticky-notes. An added benefit? You can simultaneously add your links to other bookmarking systems (like del.icio.us) on the fly.
Still no help with that Furl import though ...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.15.44.247
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/28/2007 08:53:10 PM
I used to use furl a lot, but del.icio.us is just so easy! I hope someone can answer your question because I would like consolidate all my stuff, too!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: It Was There All Along
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Hope
CATEGORY: Reading
DATE: 01/28/2007 08:17:02 PM
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A click through Wes's post on his son's improvement in and excitement for reading (congratulations, Alexander!) took me back to Stephen Krashen's website, where I rediscovered his "88 Generalizations about Free Voluntary Reading", a handy one pager of research findings on how and why we should be using SSR (that's sustained silent reading) in school.
Starting this year, we begin almost every morning with SSR, followed by a building wide writing prompt -- and sometimes I need to remind staff why that's important. It never ceases to amaze me just how hard teachers have to fight for time to simply read and write, but we do. This'll help. Thanks, Dr. Krashen.
PS -- For those of you who'd like to hear more about SSR and why it's a good thing, you might want to give a listen to this podcast, recorded by Wes, of Dr. Krashen from a while back.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: January Races Past
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/24/2007 07:58:26 PM
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Teaching, sometimes, is all about fits of frustration and rushes of passion. But not in that order. It's been an interesting January. I've learned lots along the way. More soon.
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AUTHOR: Tom
EMAIL: bionicteaching@gmail.com
IP: 68.57.79.216
URL: http://bionicteaching.com
DATE: 01/25/2007 06:18:35 PM
I like this version of the post better. :)
You're one of the positive lights out here. I hope nothing's getting you down.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 216.61.101.247
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net
DATE: 01/25/2007 11:59:33 AM
What specifically have you learned?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Seriously Absurd
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 01/22/2007 04:21:10 PM
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Good stuff at the Pulse lately. Here're a couple of recent standouts, both of which hit my aggregator today. The first, by Ron Canuel, includes a silly list of the cons of using pens and pencils. Here's a partial list, and some of his tongue in cheek conclusions:
- Very limited interactive components with peripherals in the classroom or at home or at the office
- Ergonomic design limited to higher end models
- Limited transferability of finalized documents
I
stopped at this point since it became clear that in reviewing the above
listing, there must be immediate, and more in depth research into the
positive and negative effects of pencils and pens. Just look at the
weapon component and the vandalism that these two tools have brought to
our schools and classrooms. To add, I also suggest that policy makers,
politicians, educators and media immediately investigate whether
policies and programs should be implemented to ensure the positive
usages of these tools.
The second, and far more serious piece, is by Gary Stager. I don't always agree with him, but I certainly do today when he writes:
The rights of speech, assembly, movement and petitioning one’s
government are enshrined in the United States Constitution and are the
bedrock of our democratic system. Increasingly these rights are
exercised online. Blocking such access in schools, whether
accidentally, needlessly or malevolently, endangers us all.
Overstated? I don't believe so. Make sure to read the complete articles.
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AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 72.19.152.43
URL:
DATE: 01/23/2007 07:47:09 PM
Everybody, and I mean everybody, believes in some level of censorship in schools. To go to an extreme example, who among us would think it OK to get a subscription to Hustler magazine for an elementary school?
I am not saying that YouTube is the equivalent of Hustler. I am merely pointing out that we all agree minors must be protected by discerning adults; the only difference is where we draw the lines.
By the way, the next thing I see on YouTube that is essential to a solid education will be the first.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: michelleblogs
EMAIL: mebechelle@yahoo.com
IP: 205.202.240.110
URL: http://michelleblogs.edublogs.org
DATE: 01/23/2007 01:39:57 PM
I think Canuel's argument is valid; however, convincing school boards and taxpayers is sometimes more difficult that convincing educators. Maybe the $100 Laptop Initiative is the solution?
As for Stager, I actually agree with him wholeheartedly. I don't work in classrooms every day, but even I am locked out of 'forbidden' websites during the entire work day. We take CIPA very seriously in our school district, but almost to a ridiculous level. YouTube is entirely blocked. There are some really creative, wonderful things on YouTube, and we can't get to it.
Thanks... good articles!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Kain
EMAIL: algona81@yahoo.com
IP: 68.3.6.149
URL: http://algona81.edublogs.org/
DATE: 01/22/2007 07:20:36 PM
I think Gary Stager's argument is a little over the top, but the basic premise is right on target. I'm doing a workshop in another school district this weekend on how to use Windows Movie Maker, and I had emailed their IT department to see about coming by early to copy some video files to the hard drives in the lab I'll be in. The IT guy responded by saying that users in that district (teachers as well as students) don't have permission to save files to the hard drive.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Turning Two
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 01/21/2007 12:00:00 AM
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Happy blogday to me.
Happy blogday to me.
Happy blogday, dear Budtheteacher.typepad.com,
Happy blogday to me.
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AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 216.120.146.60
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 01/22/2007 11:05:50 AM
I have to say Bud, for only having been at this whole blogging thing for 2 years, you easily give them impression of being a much more seasoned and blog-savvy individual. I started reading the site back in March of 2005, only a few months after you started, and I could have sworn you were at it for several years.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: paul black
EMAIL: paultheblack@hotmail.com
IP: 63.229.246.2
URL: http://homepage.mac.com/krimzin/Personal1.html
DATE: 01/22/2007 10:18:48 AM
Hey Bud,
I met you in Nashville this last November. I'm down I-70 from you almost to Glenwood Springs doing 8th grade in Gypsum. I'm trying to get my class blogging and I've reviewed the materials you handed out at the session at NCTE but i'm having trouble getting started. I want to be able to oversee the group, have them responding to eachother, but restrict access from outside the group. (or don't I need to?) Can I do this at Blogger.com? I feel like I should be able to find these answers myself, but I feel like I'm wasting time.
One more thing. I was planning on attending the NWP summer institute with the Denver Writing Project folks but after discovering the CSU institute, I may prefer Fort Collins. Are there lodging options? I'd love to chat more about this--check out my website for more about what I'm up to in the classroom:
http://homepage.mac.com/krimzin/Personal1.html
Thanks for the help.
Paul Black
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 01/21/2007 11:41:12 PM
Thanks, all y'all. I'm humbled and flattered by so many kind comments!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Trevor Olson
EMAIL: super_yak@hotmail.com
IP: 58.145.64.26
URL: http://www.trevor-rachel.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/21/2007 07:53:10 PM
Happy Birthday Bud from the teachers in Seoul.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.15.44.247
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/21/2007 11:07:39 AM
Congratulations! I hope to still be reading you many years from now!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: donnabragg@aol.com
IP: 216.164.30.92
URL:
DATE: 01/21/2007 10:37:26 AM
Congratulations on your 2nd birthday! Hope you have a great celebration that doesn't include shoveling snow - maybe it will include some geocaching!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 72.2.13.42
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 01/21/2007 06:03:32 AM
I'm coming over for cake!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 151.196.33.116
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com/
DATE: 01/21/2007 03:56:51 AM
And maaaaaaaaany moooooooore!
Keep asking those questions!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kevin H.
EMAIL: dogtrax@gmail.com
IP: 159.250.64.158
URL: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/
DATE: 01/21/2007 03:37:42 AM
Hi Bud
I raise a shot of whiskey to ya.
Keep up the great work and keep our minds engaged.
Kevin
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@gmail.com
IP: 202.156.13.4
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/21/2007 02:12:47 AM
Yay! I guess blogs are not like children-- blogs mature more quickly. Thanks for two years of thought provoking posts.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: SoulCradler
EMAIL: soulcradler@yahoo.com
IP: 203.164.138.78
URL: http://soulcradler.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/21/2007 01:23:59 AM
Happy blog-birthday! I have only known you since you were one-and-three-quarters, but hopefully I'll get to come to your next party too.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jo McLeay
EMAIL: jbmcleay@gmail.com
IP: 124.191.176.53
URL: http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/21/2007 12:48:30 AM
Congratulations, Bud. It's amazing what you can achieve in a relatively short time. Happy birthday.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: "Planning"
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Student Teaching
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 01/16/2007 11:17:45 PM
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I found this comment tonight while catching up on some reading. It's a well-articulated statement of how I think lesson planning, and teaching, should happen:
But the best classes, for me, always seem to be the ones that go
sailing off in some direction I hadn't anticipated. I used to worry
about having to pull the kids "back on track." In recent years I'm more
interested in trying to explore with them where the new track is
leading. Truth to tell, a great deal of my lesson "planning" is
actually done after the fact, trying as you say, to figure out, given
today's surprises, what would be a good thing to do next.
And
all of that connects to the objection that I think we both share to
curriculum design driven by standardized testing. There's no room there
for side tracks, we've got to get to page 48 by Thursday.
The
artfulness of teaching is about knowing when and how to respond on the
fly to things you hadn't anticipated. And if you don't provide room for
those things to happen, if you don't give the students room to make them happen, education devolves into something mechanical and soul-deadening.
Yep. Couldn't agree more.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 01/24/2007 08:02:11 PM
Some good responses here. Thanks. I'm certainly not saying that planning and preparing is never about sequences and scopes. I do, though, resist the scopes and sequences that are designed and clung to in the absence of actual students.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dan
EMAIL: dlake@cnyric.org
IP: 170.158.0.3
URL:
DATE: 01/24/2007 07:32:32 AM
Bud, what you refer to I always heard called "the teachable moment". If the "moment" was time sensitive content, related to process, important and motivational, and not static information, and if it matched my future goals... I'd run with it and link it to other tasks.
But there is nothing more unsettling to a teacher than to prepare a static "content" unit only to find that last year's teacher had digressed and imparted that information already.. to half of the class. This unsettling, however, may reflect a lack of creative and dynamic and individualized instruction. Curriculum, if it fosters dynamic activity with open-ended learning, won't impede the "teachable moment". However, curriculum that requires the teaching of static "content" - which is sometimes necessary to impart to a whole group - will impede such moments.
So.. an experienced teacher usually can tell the difference, and make the right choice.. to diverge, or not to diverge. That is part of what we all learn through experience, but not often through teacher training courses!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: RJH
EMAIL: rhale04@gmail.com
IP: 66.65.196.57
URL: http://www.morecoffeeplease.com
DATE: 01/18/2007 03:24:46 PM
There's a major difference between going off on a tangent and allowing the kids to really explore the ideas. The best classes for me have been the ones when something really caught them and they wanted to talk about it for awhile, and really understand what it meant. I certainly didn't get to page 42 that day, but I think the kids understood better than if I had.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: David Jakes
EMAIL: djakes@csd99.org
IP: 70.142.208.157
URL: http://jakespeak.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/17/2007 05:28:02 PM
A problem arises when too much "sailing off in some direction I hadn't anticipated" happens too often and is done by too many. In most cases, I would reject curriculum design driven by standardized testing. But what happens when certain sub-groups fail to meet AYP and the grim reality is that they have to? Would you agree to a more prescribed curriculum that would target the issues the kids were having so that they could be successful on the test as a last option? Nothing else has worked, including leaving it up to regular/traditional types of classroom instruction. What if your school district, as a result of the failure of these subgroups, was to be remediated. Would you still reject that type of curriculum?
I favor a guaranteed and viable curriculum (from the work of Marzano); for example, every kid in a biology class gets the same curriculum, and its viable-we have the time and resources to make sure it happens. This certainly does not equate to a curriculum defined by standardized testing, but does require a little more rigidity to guarantee that every kid is ensured the same type of education. And certainly there is latitude for exploring serendipitous topics.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: gls
EMAIL: gs@matchingtracksuits.com
IP: 24.196.167.201
URL: http://matchingtracksuits.com
DATE: 01/17/2007 05:29:46 AM
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think a natural flow is a key element to a good classroom atmosphere. On the other, curricula are intended, in part, to try to ensure that everyone in a given geographic area (generally the state, I suppose) has a similar eduction.
I suppose it depends on just how much tangent following we're talking about.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Back?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Preservice Teachers
CATEGORY: Student Teaching
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 01/15/2007 11:07:28 PM
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BODY:
Happy New Year! (Better late than never, right?)
I'm returning to the blog after a pleasant break from most of the online world. Very pleasant break. There was lots of snow to remove from driveways and sidewalks, and plenty of good friends and family to visit.
Tomorrow begins our third quarter of the year, and I'm pleased to report that I'll be beginning the quarter with a new colleague in my classroom as I've got a student teacher for the spring.
Supposedly, I'm to teach him how to teach -- but so far, I think I'm doing most of the learning. A fresh pair of eyes is really handy to have in the classroom, and I'm looking forward to learning a great deal as I basically reexamine my practice through another's eyes in the midst of honest questions.
This idea of learning through questioning actually helps me to connect back to my last post, one that has spawned an awful lot of conversation that I haven't quite been able to process properly. Seems as if I touched a nerve or two. It wasn't my intention to put anyone's back against a wall, but it seems to have happened.
When I want to better understand something, I ask questions about it. Asking questions, in and of itself, is important to do. When we don't question ourselves and our motives from time to time, we fall into bad patterns and we quit thinking constructively critically. Karl said it better than I can:
Yet another quote from Deborah Meier's book:
Expecting
teachers to take responsibility for the success of the whole school
requires that they begin to accept responsibility for both their own
and their colleagues' teaching.
This made me think
of something Ron used to say a lot - "Care enough to confront." He was
referring to students, but I think the same thing applies to our
colleagues. I think we need to respect our colleagues enough to ask
hard questions of them. That's part of what I'm trying to do with this
staff development - ask hard questions of each of you (and myself) to
make sure we are doing all that we can to make our school a success. I
don't think it's okay anymore (if it ever was) to just say "I'm going
to close my door and do whatever I want." It's not enough to be
successful as individual teachers, we need to be successful as a staff
if we want our school to be successful - and if we want our students to
be successful and achieve to their potential.
Of course there's a
fine line between pushing our colleagues to do their best teaching and
conveying the impression that "my way is right, your way is wrong." But
I think that's a line we need to walk. I think if we fail to approach
the education of our students as an entire staff - with a coherent
approach and clear goals for what we want to achieve - we will be
mediocre at best. And I guess I'm at the point in my career where I
refuse to be mediocre - or part of something that is.
If
we intend to dramatically improve the education of American kids,
teachers must be challenged to invent schools they would like to teach
and learn in, organized around the principles of learning that we know
matter.
When I asked about groups, that was an honest question. And I appreciate the honest answers. I'm still thinking, too, about my questions. I don't know the answers. Of course, that's the whole point of the asking, isn't it?
A new read in my aggregator has been asking some wicked good questions lately, the kind that challenge the assumptions that I bring to the classroom. I don't agree with all of his conclusions, or his methods, but I really dig his questions and the motivation and solid writing behind them. Here's one, taken slightly out of context (read the original post):
If the point is to acclimate them to what will be the essential
publishing tools of their day (a cause I can get behind and push),
then, [expletive deleted], will Journalism and English please step up their
curriculum, pronto? Otherwise, will someone link up the post I’m
missing? Because until someone explains how wikis will increase
Instructional Value while decreasing Minutes Expended then I’m content
to play wallflower at this party.
It's a good question, passionately and honestly asked. Lots of responses in the comments. Good ones, the kind that help you clarify what you think, not flame-y or anything.
Ask good questions this year. Especially the hard ones. We all need them.
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AUTHOR: Bud
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DATE: 01/10/2007 11:12:02 PM
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Lots of good conversation and pushback to my post about groups just before the new year. I anticipated some of the responses that I received, and was pleasantly surprised by some others. I always enjoy learning from smart people -- thank you for honoring me with your attention and feedback.
I was reminded, as I read some of the comments, of a post from Karl's blog about a year ago. I rediscovered it a few days back in Karl's review of 2006. Here's a quote:
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Groups. Do We Need More?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/30/2006 11:19:00 AM
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I'm noticing a proliferation of niche groups emerging in the edu'sphere -- groups of young folks, groups of women, etc. Something about this is rubbing me the wrong way -- but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.
I certainly admire the time and effort that people are putting into helping others find their way in the forest that is the Internet. But is their enough added value in these different subgroups, particularly among bloggers that are already networked, that makes their existence an asset rather than a collection of subdivisions, new walls keeping people separate? At what point does joining a group mean closing a door, rather than opening one? Or does it ever mean that at all? (I think that it does, sometimes.) Does the creation of lots of new groups lead to a further formalization of these spaces that are informal learning places? Are we perpetuating old ways of doing things in new spaces?
I imagine there'll be some folks agitated by the questions, and because I've "named" some groups. Please don't misunderstand me; I don't mean to demean -- I'm generally curious. I know that Stephen Downes' posting on groups and networks (here's but one of several really interesting pieces on the subject) has been rattling around in my brain, and it's certainly not as simple as "groups bad." But I feel, um, weird, for lack of a better word, about lots of new groups forming up.
Maybe the groups' value, particularly in a world that equates authority with titles and memberships and other foolish whatnot, is to simply exist in name so that people can say, "Look, this person must know what they're talking about, because they're a member of a group!"
What's your take?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Richard
EMAIL: texashay@swbell.net
IP: 68.94.196.132
URL: http://sfoda726.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/22/2007 05:10:16 AM
When is a molehill a mountain? I personally think there is a need and space for both--the more general and the topic specific groupings. Isn't a general grouping of educators a "specified" (niche) group unto itself? And aren't there a goodly number of topic specific issues that many others may not be interested in discussing? In my opinion and experience, the greater value of the WWW and blogs such as this one is to let its form and discussion drift to wherever the intellectual breeze takes us all. Enjoy the journey; I do.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: elementaryhistoryteacher
EMAIL: teachingsocialstudies@consultant.com
IP: 72.152.135.36
URL: http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/14/2007 08:34:18 AM
This is a very timely post as I have been thinking about this movement of bloggers in general who seem to migrate from group to group. I was unaware of the groups you mention in your post and I'm grateful for the knowledge. As I read your post I simply thought about groups or communities outside of education that I have begun to communicate with. I love being a part of the education community of bloggers. I learn many things, I am able to reflect on my own actions, and learn that many times I'm not alone in my thoughts and feelings. I have become involved in a few groups that aren't education related to branch out, to bring others into the discussion regarding education. I also hope to teach others a little about history along the way.
I don't necessarily think these changes are bad. In the nonblogging world we tend to move from different group to different group as the need arises. I see no difference in the Internet world. Things tend to move in cycles.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Maria Angala
EMAIL: solangala@yahoo.com
IP: 71.127.59.31
URL: http://teachersol.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/10/2007 10:00:25 PM
Hi Bud. This is not my first time here. I've been watching (reading) from afar since I started blogging two years ago. Now I know why you're an admirable techie teacher, you're with the NWP *wink. I found your blog through Troy's and Kevin's links. I am Maria Angala, Tech Liaison to the DC Area Writing Project.
- http://teachersol.blogspot.com -
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Carl Schmitt
EMAIL: cs1982@hotmail.com
IP: 208.59.127.117
URL: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/01/va_teacher_fired_for_butt_pain.html#comments
DATE: 01/10/2007 06:55:28 PM
Cliques have always been a problem at schools but this latest debaucle out of Virginia is sickening. The Chesterfield County School Board voted unanimously to an art teacher because of the art he produced . It's too sad...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy White
EMAIL: nancyw@fullcirc.comn
IP: 216.254.22.58
URL: http://www.fullcirc.com
DATE: 01/03/2007 06:11:10 PM
See also this blog post, which to me addresses why we sometimes seek belongingness
http://sue.polinsky.com/?p=2698
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy White
EMAIL: nancyw@fullcirc.comn
IP: 216.254.22.58
URL: http://www.fullcirc.com
DATE: 01/02/2007 09:11:59 PM
Some great these and issues surfacing here about:
* openness
* accountability to ourselves, defined set of "others" and the larger world
* our ability to have relationships with X number of people (Dunbar number sorts of issues)
* identity
* affiliation
* boundaries (usefulness/problems with)
* expertise (usefulness of/abuse of)
* learning
* shared practice
* inclusiveness
* exclusiveness
* personal preference of "containers"
Every time I read (and tag) posts about the group/network dynamic I always have the "blind men and the elephant" image. There is this continuum in my mind between human interaction forms that can be used/abused in so many ways. Yet the distinction seems very important to us. I wonder why it is so important? I know I spend a lot of time thinking/writing about it and yet I'm not clear on why I find it so important.
I'd be curious to know why it is important to all of you who have commented. Thoughts?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim Coe
EMAIL: bionicteaching@gmail.com
IP: 24.125.170.252
URL: http://www.bionicteaching.com
DATE: 01/02/2007 06:41:42 PM
Bud and Kelly: I think groups are based on life experience. People are drawn to those who carry a similar set of experiences, so they can feel more comfortable, less guarded around them. This is a good thing. We need to be able to let down those emotional blockades that let us relax our minds, emotions, spirits. I believe these groups function in this way.
In the same breath (I have huge lungs [wink]) this is not the only way to live. We all need to take the ideas we have nurtured in these groups and wrestle with them in the public forum. This keeps us accountable, helps us to stay sharp, and reminds us that we always have opportunities to be learners ourselves.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cheryl Oakes
EMAIL: coakes@maine.rr.com
IP: 24.198.58.157
URL: http://www.cheryloakes.com
DATE: 01/01/2007 07:04:14 PM
Hello Bud and all the discussion members,
This is a happy problem. For so many years, teachers have been isolated in their profession either by virtue of being the only Art or French teacher in the building, or only 3rd grade teacher on their floor. Now by reaching out to the Internet each teacher can make a connection with someone who shares similar interests, quests, lessons, ideas, visions. I believe we are responsible for bringing along the next wave of educators. My hope is that we can provide as many inclusive options as possible. That is my goal. Thanks for offering me a chance to be part of this conversation.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jennifer W
EMAIL: jlw@technospud.com
IP: 69.231.199.162
URL: http://www.womenofweb2.com
DATE: 01/01/2007 05:01:41 PM
Hi Bud --
WOW (no pun intended) thanks for starting my new year off in deep thought. :)
If I might, can I clarify that Women of Web 2.0 is NOT a group -- but rather a network of educators and users of Web 2.0 tools that have created a learning space to share ideas, goals, uses of tech, etc.
Our mission statement clearly states that we are NOT just a group of girls but rather a network of educators and users.
However, we did see, and do see, that the name can be misleading. In fact, we had quite a discussion of it over at World Bridges today (you might wish to listen to it!)
I do respect your blog -- tremendously, and you have given me something to ponder in the next few days.
Have a great new year --
perhaps you would like to join the WOW2 in a skypechat some Tuesday evening?
Jennifer
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 24.215.80.93
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 01/01/2007 03:47:53 PM
fyi... the women of web 2.0 are talking about this right now... should be posted up soon.
cheers. dave.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 24.215.80.93
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 01/01/2007 03:45:25 PM
Hey Bud.
You seemed to have hit a bit of a nerve here... :)
dave.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner.graham@gmail.com
IP: 61.68.217.70
URL: http://gwegner.edublogs.org
DATE: 12/31/2006 05:06:05 AM
This whole concept of groups/networks really fascinates me, but much depends on the definitions being used. Darren Kuropatwa and I exchanged views about this a little while back and I don't want to rehash that all here. My view of a network in a blogging sense is something that grows organically in an unplanned way - I find a blog, find something that rings true, subscribe, comments on my blog lead me to new nodes for my network and so on. It is like a growing organism with the only barriers being of my own creation. A group is something different (in my view) to a network - something planned, with defined boundaries and purposes and yes, they can be by nature exclusionary, intended or otherwise. The only problem that arises is when some groups set themselves up to be "experts" and to gain access to that expertise might require membership. Declining becoming a member of a group can also cause offence especially when the members of the group have noble or well intentioned goals (i.e. why wouldn't someone want to be part of our great idea) but constructing and being part of a network is solely at the discretion of the blogger. Not sure that I've added much of value here but I tended to nod my head a lot when I read your post.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Harbeck
EMAIL: chris.harbeck@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.99.74
URL: http://makeitinteresting.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/30/2006 05:57:41 PM
Hi I am a member of WOW. I joined because people who I respect and admire are taking the time to inform people who want to know about pedagogy and interesting tools to make teaching better for todays youth. I am a male who just wants to teach better.
WOW to my knowledge was created by 4 friends who wanted a place to share their experiences in the classroom. I have been an active participant in their post and pre skype shows.
The new net is a place where your creativity improves when you get a synergistic energy working with friends. Connecting with people from everywhere allows for a better finished project.
Groups/networks...... if it makes us push the boundaries of what we are willing to do and improve the education of todays youth then so be it.
If I recall the K12online conference was considered a group by some people. Look at all the good that has come and is still coming out of this Conference.
Thanks for a great post. I hope that teachers and bloggers everywhere just push the bar higher and show new and great things to do with our students.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Noon
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 209.112.150.105
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org/
DATE: 12/30/2006 03:54:42 PM
As soon as you have an us you also construct a them. Even the construction "edu'sphere" suggests something else beyond it. If a group could help me do something important that I couldn't do alone, I'd consider joining. Some folks may feel the need for support and certainty in their decision-making. Maybe they'll find it. Teaching, however, is rife with uncertainty (for me). The alternative to a group is to find one or two people who you respect, and learn from them whatever they have to offer. Each approach has its parallel in the 'real' world, if there is such a thing.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Craft
EMAIL: crafty184@gmail.com
IP: 24.148.178.228
URL: http://www.thinkingaboutteaching.com
DATE: 12/30/2006 02:20:03 PM
Ok, I have tried my hardest to articulate the vision and ideas of this thing on my blog, please read it and hear my heart and then you may respond freely, with all the info.
http://opensource.christophercraft.com/?p=101
Thanks!
Chris Craft
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Belshaw
EMAIL: mrbelshaw@gmail.com
IP: 88.107.243.146
URL: http://teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk
DATE: 12/30/2006 01:50:56 PM
Bud,
I have the greatest respect for your ideas and comments, but I think you're wrong here. Networks and groups aren't mutually exclusive - we need both. Networks, as with Stephen Downes' excellent visual representation (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/252157734/), are an excellent way - and a very 21st century way - of learning and collaborating. But groups are needed too. We have groups all the time, they're a fact of life - we compartmentalize people naturally to make sense of the world.
As Chris has said above, give us a chance to iterate our intentions before please before you write off what we're doing!
Doug
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Craft
EMAIL: crafty184@gmail.com
IP: 24.148.178.228
URL: http://www.thinkingaboutteaching.com
DATE: 12/30/2006 12:52:35 PM
It is not appropriate to assume either group is off limits or that it is divisive. We are planning a formal announcement of our IDEA and that alone. This is a premature discussion and are not intending to put up walls.
Give us a chance to bear this out and explain ourselves. That's all we ask.
Chris
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Hoefler
EMAIL: ehoefler@gmail.com
IP: 68.48.160.55
URL: http://sicheiiyazhi.com
DATE: 12/30/2006 12:45:19 PM
I understand your concern: there are already so many things to keep track of online. Also, most of us agree that connection/openness is the goal of the internet. Do groups complicate the poblem and confound these goals? I think they do. However, I think the problem is not with groups, but with the technology that cannot yet handle this proliferation.
Blogs are a good example. Before RSS became standard and could be capitalized on, the proliferation of so many blogs was a problem. Now, using blogrolls, tags, etc., the proliferation is an advantage and more manageable.
I think the technology to deal with this is around the corner (I hope)--some form of transferrable ID (like OpenID or something similar) that can allow users to "carry their networks with them" as they join various groups. This will allow for someone to join specialized groups, but not be disconnected from others, and even bring those specialties into larger networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
At least, I hope something like that will be coming soon, because we need it. And at any rate, I don't think people are going to stop joining groups. Also, this would prevent "group monopolies" from dictating to us the few groups/networks to which we can belong and how those groups/networks should function.
So ... proliferation = good; technology to help us keep track of this proliferation = necessary.
A good question worthy of attention, discussion ... action. Thanks!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kevin Hodgson
EMAIL: dogtrax@gmail.com
IP: 159.250.66.6
URL: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/
DATE: 12/30/2006 12:30:37 PM
Hmm.
Interesting point but you may be missing the overall desire by many people to have a community of interest to belong to, and that, by nature, means it is somewhat exclusionary. Perhaps people want to find a place, even a virtual space, where they can feel sort of like an expert for a few minutes (Hey, my voice matters!).
I don't think tech makes things equal or breaks down barriers, as much as I would like to think that is the case from time to time. That is an illusion. The thing that gets reduced is physical distance.
The reality is, we all want some place to belong and that is why you have these increasingly narrow communities, I think.
I remember reading a book by Derek Powazek (Design for Community) who noted that one of the best ways to build an online community is to make it "seem" exclusionary to some degree (I think he called it "creating a doorway") so that people get invested in the space and make it their own. Otherwise, they won't want to ever return.
(Thanks for making your blog welcoming, Bud)
Peace,
Kevin
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kelly Christopherson
EMAIL: kwhobbes@mac.com
IP: 207.47.168.238
URL: http://www.kwhobbes.edublogs.org
DATE: 12/30/2006 12:05:17 PM
Bud,
I am with you on this. It makes me wonder about why we need to compartimentalise our discussions and ideas. It also excludes some people from the discussions which is one of the great strengths of the web, allowing people with different insights into discussions. The two groups you mention would be off limits for me, an older male teacher. So does that mean that I should start an OMTG - older male tech group? My take was that we wanted to break down barriers instead of building them. I may not agree with everything I read but it makes me consider new perspectives which is an important part of learning. Without access, learning can be limited. Isn't that what we are struggling with in the school realm - building credibility without walls - so our students can access ideas outside theirs.
For what it's worth -
Kelly
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: More Snow. Lots.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 12/28/2006 08:45:33 PM
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Yikes. Here we go again.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Gonna Be a Geocacher
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Geocaching
DATE: 12/26/2006 08:12:25 PM
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For Christmas, my wife, who believes I already have too many gadgets (and she might be right), took one for the team and generously got me a handheld GPS receiver. That means that I can now go geocaching. I know, it makes me a geek that I want to do something like that, but we all know it's true:
I'm a geek. One who likes being outside. Geocaching seems like a neat twist on hiking.
I've already programmed a bunch of area caches into my receiver. I'm planning to go out as soon as the snow melts a bit more. Those of you that already geocache: what do I need to know or watch out for? What's the one thing you wish you knew before you started?
I feel like Ralphie Parker with my BB rifle. Let's hope I don't shoot my eye out.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Julie Pretz
EMAIL: mjpretzinwalden@yahoo.com
IP: 72.161.99.54
URL:
DATE: 12/29/2006 09:25:49 PM
Bud I am so jealous. I have wanted to do that for years, but have held back because I didn't know anyone else to go with. Have a great time. It sounds like such fun!
Julie
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: donnabragg@aol.com
IP: 216.164.30.92
URL: http://www.lvwp.org
DATE: 12/28/2006 08:27:30 AM
Congratulations fellow TL Bud!
I gave my husband a GPS for his birthday in August and we have over 200 finds to date. We are team DB2. You have gotten lots of good advice so far. I have some bits of advice to add:
1. Attend a geocaching event as soon possible and don't forget to log attending the event as a find.
2. Listen to the podcacher podcast (podcacher.com)while you are waiting for the snow to melt.
3. When you find a trackable item (travel bug, geocoin and the like) you can "discover" it without having to take possession and move it to another cache. We carry our digital camera to take pictures at the cache site.
PS If you figure a great way to add geocaching to your SI, share your ideas. I have been thinking about that recently.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brian
EMAIL: mobileminded@gmail.com
IP: 66.66.100.77
URL: http://mobilemind.wordpress.com
DATE: 12/28/2006 05:40:58 AM
I agree, you'll love it. Geeky? Maybe, but I liken it to hiking since it can be a workout if long enough.
I have used geocaching as a recreational activity with my daughter who is 3 now. I would take her on cache searches when she was 2 in a backpack, now we plan it out the night before by packing her own backpack complete with trail mix and a nalgene water bottle.
The other way I have used caching is to train teachers on using GPS to create an outdoor classroom. Geocaching allows teachers to build teamwork and get to know each other well (something teachers sometimes need to do a better job with, especially with students). I have used geocaching to teach ecology in a local park. These caches contain activities to the ecology of the cache location. Use of geocaching is also growing, albeit slowly, in physical education classes.
Many of these people (students mostly) have gone out to set their own caches that I can find with my daughter!
Advice?
1. While I agree that micro caches are tough, there are other cache types available. Learn more about these cache types and mix up your searches.
2. Pay attention to the cache attributes (located on the right side of a cache page on geocaching.com) they will help you prepare what to wear, bring and expect as you make your way.
3. Once you have set up your profile, check out the Search Options to find caches closest to your own home.
4. Not sure what you are using to upload waypoints, but I like EasyGPS (http://www.easygps.com). When you click on a .loc file on a cache page EasyGPS will execute and be ready to create files containing multiple caches ready for upload.
Hope you find what you're looking for!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cathy Nelson
EMAIL: cnelson@rock-hill.k12.sc.us
IP: 208.104.155.162
URL:
DATE: 12/27/2006 08:05:02 AM
I have a friend whose family is totally into it. It's a family thing for them to do together, and they love it. It has taken them to many places they would not have gone on their own, and it has brought them together in a purposeful way. Also, it has forced them to truly appreciate and get in tune with nature. I'll be anxiously awaiting your opinion of geocaching. Can't get my couch potato family interested, so I'll have to live vicariously through my friends who do this.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 71.17.49.48
URL: http://ideasandthoughts.org
DATE: 12/26/2006 11:27:06 PM
Advice?
1. Take a buddy with you.
2. Hopefully you'll have a few caches to search for with the possibilities of not finding them all.
3. Use Google Earth or Maps to avoid driving around aimlessly in areas that aren't very familiar.
4. Pay attention to the type of cache. Micro caches are tough for newbies.
5. Take your camera. You can post them when you log them and it's guaranteed you'll find some interesting places along the way.
http://flickr.com/photos/shareski/tags/geocaching/
Have a blast!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Glenn E. Malone
EMAIL: malonege@gmail.com
IP: 67.168.113.192
URL: http://www.flickr.com/people/gemalone/
DATE: 12/26/2006 09:14:18 PM
opps...I didn't answer the question...One thing to know or watch out for...The GPS accuracy gets you to the general area within 20 - 50 feet...Think like this...where would I hid something in this area? What looks out of place?
Always walk forward and don't spin in circles the GPS is not a compass, it's collecting satellite data and the satellites don't know when you turn without moving your location.
Don't take the direct route...there is always a nice path to the best caches. I learned that the hard way.
Use this with kids! I organized the Geocaching event at NECC in San Diego and lots of teachers are doing cool things with these and kids!
Find at least 20 before you place one... and only place one if you want to take care of it for life...like a kid.
Try a Caching Event to meet other cachers...we are really fun people!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Glenn E. Malone
EMAIL: malonege@gmail.com
IP: 67.168.113.192
URL: http://www.flickr.com/people/gemalone/
DATE: 12/26/2006 09:06:04 PM
You'll love caching!
Here are my stats:
http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=03dc4fbc-7db8-4a4f-8ecd-0082f76a8b2b
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Keep Singing
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/24/2006 12:44:28 AM
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I was at a shopping mall today, in the food court, doing some people watching. I saw a young man on a small stage doing his best to sing his heart out for a crowd that was far more interested in egg rolls, pizza, and big ol' hams than they were in his attempt to entertain them. The kid was good, and he didn't care who knew. He just wanted to sing. I should've told the young man that I enjoyed and appreciated his efforts. But I didn't.
I'm reminded of that young man, sharing his passion with an apparently uninterested world, as I think of all of those people with whom I've made contact via the blogosphere. Y'all are people who are sharing your passions, writing and speaking and sharing your hearts out on a regular basis, often unsure of the reaction or response you'll elicit -- if you seem to elicit one at all.
I thank you deeply. I am grateful for your counsel and conversation, and I wish you all a happy end to this wonderful year.
Keep singin', wherever you are, and whomever you're with. I'll certainly be listening.
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AUTHOR: Annerose
EMAIL: admin@gesundheitshersteller.de
IP: 217.246.19.169
URL: http://www.gesundheitshersteller.de
DATE: 06/05/2007 09:17:05 AM
These comments have been invaluable to me as is this whole site. I thank you for your comment.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 01/01/2007 10:05:53 PM
Thanks, y'all. Glad it was useful to you.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Pass
EMAIL: ap@Pass-Ed.com
IP: 70.210.57.242
URL: http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blog1
DATE: 12/27/2006 09:07:43 PM
Bud,
I guess it's not just bloggers and singers, but also teachers, who never know the kind of impact that they'll have. As the last day of the year approaches maybe we should all step back and think about one thoughtful/meaningful thing that we said/wrote this past year that would have meant something to ourselves even if nobody else heard/read us. Thanks for a provacative post.
Check out my Living Textbook, www.Pass-Ed.com/about.html
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: elementaryhistoryteacher
EMAIL: teachingsocialstudies@consultant.com
IP: 74.224.52.125
URL: http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/27/2006 08:26:19 PM
I too was very impressed with your connection between the young man and what educators do with their blogs. I totally, totally agree. We do need to keep singing!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: CaliforniaTeacherGuy
EMAIL: teachnkids@gmail.com
IP: 71.110.33.235
URL: http://californiateacherguy.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/26/2006 05:08:16 PM
I was so impressed with your post that I borrowed part of it for my own:
http://californiateacherguy.blogspot.com/2006/12/sustaining-teacher-bloggers-soul-bud.html
Merry Christmas to you!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: UnBlogging Blogger
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 12/24/2006 12:32:11 AM
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Google's adding new privacy features to Blogger:
Google Inc. has released a new version of its Blogger service,
adding privacy settings that restrict readership to a predetermined
audience.
Users can choose to have blogs accessible to anyone or just to themselves.
Or they can list the e-mail addresses of the people they want to let in. Those readers would need to register for a free Google
(nasdaq:
GOOG -
news
-
people
) account - the same used for its Gmail and other services - and would sign in with their regular Google passwords.
As others have suggested, the ability to control the audience of a blog will probably increase schools' use of blogs. That control will also destroy some of the reason for creating a blog in the first place. Certainly, a limited public audience is better than no public audience when it comes to writing and learning. But I wonder how limited some of those "audiences" will be.
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AUTHOR: Bill Fitzgerald
EMAIL: bill@openacademic.com
IP: 67.160.162.39
URL: http://www.funnymonkey.com
DATE: 12/27/2006 09:31:46 AM
Hello, Bud,
This is something I think we all go back and forth on --
If we look at blogging/writing in a rhetorical context, or as a relationship between writer/narrator/author <--> audience <--> content, then an awareness of audience is essential. However, even in a closed space (aka the walled garden), if a teacher devotes time to class reflection on the posts of their peers, it can s(t)imulate an audience response.
Because, is blogging about finding an audience, finding a voice, finding your subject matter, or a little bit about all three?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kevin Hodgson
EMAIL: dogtrax@gmail.com
IP: 159.250.64.144
URL: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/
DATE: 12/24/2006 04:14:34 AM
Hi Bud
Good point on audience and what privacy controls will do to how we perceive the world audience of blogs (as if ...) when we write for our various spaces.
It will be interesting to see if there is a slow shift in our definitions of what a Blog is as time marches on (hell, it's almost 2007!) and technology changes.
Happy Holidays
Kevin
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Never Too Young
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 12/21/2006 04:40:23 PM
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It's never too early to get your children helping out around the house. After our twenty or so inches of snowfall -- more if you count the massive drifts throughout our neighborhood -- we sent Ani, almost two, out with her shovel to get the driveway done. It only took six hours and two diaper changes.
(I'm kidding, obviously. But it was quite a day for snow removal here. Here's a link to our "Holiday Blizzard 2006" photos. Isn't it great that, thanks to television, every major weather event has a cool-sounding name now?)
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AUTHOR: Cathy Nelson
EMAIL: cnelson@rock-hill.k12.sc.us
IP: 208.104.155.162
URL:
DATE: 12/22/2006 06:57:53 PM
Here in Rock Hill, SC, we've had more days appropriate for shorts and flip flops than boots and coats. We had a 20 innc snowfall 3 years ago that immobilized us---we don't have the infrastrucure to deal with more than an inch or two. My oldest son is a freshman at DePaul, and he doesn't seem to understand he will need a REAL winter coat for this upcoming next semester. He doesn't even own real socks--just booty style ones. Won't listen to Mom---guess he'll just have to live and learn. Merry white Christmas. Ani is darling.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 70.21.199.142
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 12/22/2006 02:43:49 PM
Hey Bud... Great pics... Very cute! Happy Holidays... I did a similar post on my html based site three years ago... Boy does time fly: http://www.ragonefamily.net/2003-blizzard.html.
Enjoy your time off -- "see" you in the New Year!
- Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jennifer W
EMAIL: jlw@technospud.com
IP: 69.231.199.162
URL: http://www.technospudprojects.com
DATE: 12/22/2006 11:15:03 AM
Hi Bud!!
Just a request -- I am hosting an online project for teachers where we are posting "SCENES FROM THE SEASON" and was wondering if I could use a couple of your SNOW pictures to add to the web album??
We are using Bubble Share and have pictures from CA, OR, LA, CO, and Malaysia so far.
Please let me know.
Thanks
Jennifer Wagner
http://www.technospudprojects.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/21/2006 08:09:21 PM
Thanks for sharing the pictures of Ani. Abby "helped" with the shoveling as well. I think I can see why you finished your shoveling before me (I'm still working on it). We have a three-car garage (and therefore driveway), 33 inches at last estimate, and no snow-blower.
I, too, was waiting to see what the local stations decided to call this blizzard. I was hoping for "Winter Solstice Eve 2006 Blizzard," but no such luck.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Making a List
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/21/2006 04:15:35 PM
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I received a couple of e-mails this week from a gentleman that, unintentionally, caused a bit of a ruckus within my quadrant/corner/big ol' network-section thingie of the edusphere.
This gentleman created some content and, like most folks who create content, wanted other people to see it. So, he wrote to some people that he thought might be interested and told them about the content he created. Now, he might be trying to generate traffic, or to share a good thing, but either way, he's basically created something that he wants to share.
Nothing wrong there.
Maybe it's because I've worked in and around newsrooms for a while, but getting e-mail telling me about stuff is a very common occurrence. When we would get press release type e-mail in a newsroom, we'd check it out. If it sounds interesting or useful to ourselves or to our readers, we'd usually put a reporter on the story. That reporter would check out the release and the information and generate a story from both the release and the fresh information that he or she got from doing some actual reporting. (That's pretty much just what Darren's done. And the gentleman's responded with some more helpful information.)
If it didn't sound useful (and most press releases didn't), we ignored the information. Usually, we ignored it while pushing the delete key. We certainly never admonished the sender for attempting to share something with us -- that was their duty if they thought they had something good.
I get a lot of press release-type e-mails because of this blog. Most go unanswered and unfollowed up, because they don't really sound all that interesting or useful to me or to my readers. Some go right up to the blog as a link, if I can verify that I trust the source or the information that I'm being pointed to. Some get a "Hi. Who are you?" response.
Such stuff comes with the gig. We need to read our e-mail very carefully and critically. Sure, maybe a blog post would be a better way to send me a message -- but I think e-mail is a better way to target particular folks. Could people who want me to know stuff notify me that I'm being mass mailed to? Sure, but usually, I'm able to tell. When the resource is good, I don't much care if I'm a target in a mass e-mailing campaign.
In this case, I'll let you know that I've been listed on this gentleman's organization's list of Top 100 Edublogs . That's cool -- it's always nice to be noticed. It's also always nice to check out other edublogs -- there're a few new ones (to me) on that list. As for whether or not any wrong was committed by mass e-mailing people to let them know about that list or any other service the site provides, well, I'd say no.
E-mail away.
PS: Why did the Infinite Thinking Machine blog make their post on the Top 100 list disappear? Curious. Update: Here's the cache of the missing post. Seems innocuous. Why'd it go away?
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AUTHOR: Troy Hicks
EMAIL: hickstro@msu.edu
IP: 76.20.144.171
URL: http://hickstro.org
DATE: 01/03/2007 11:35:06 AM
Hi Bud and Everyone,
Like all of you, I was a little surprised and honored at the same time. What I was interested in most was the fact that this list contains links to all of you -- those who I consider prominent edubloggers -- and then someone like myself who is new to the game. There are many, many other edubloggers that I would have thought should appeared there, but didn't. Go figure.
Also, for what it's worth, I exchanged a few emails with Jimmy and I think that the OEDb site is trying to emerge as a way to compare online educational opportunities – both totally online and with brick and mortar counterparts – and that is something I think that we desperately need, too: Transparency in online education.
Thanks for starting this conversation.
Troy
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 24.78.137.54
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/26/2006 08:17:45 AM
I don't think there is anything wrong with making a list of your top 100 favourite blogs and publishing it for the world to see. When I received the email about the list it did not ask me to blog about it or promote it in any way. It did carry an undertone (not explicitly included in the email) that I had won some sort of award. Naturally curious about who it came from and why I got it I looked into the source. What I found was that I did not receive an award. Rather, I made the favourite blog list of an individual. It struck me that this fact was not obvious. It was opaque rather than transparent. Hence my post. I hold no ill will towards Jimmy. I would have preferred that he was a little more "up front" about the source of this "recognition."
I also thought that publishing the way I learned this would be instructive for my students with whom I plan to share the story. They should know how to verify sources on the net. If it was instructive for any other bloggers as well, well, that's a good thing too. ;-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wesley Fryer
EMAIL: wesley.fryer@att.com
IP: 70.247.154.87
URL: http://www.speedofcreativity.org
DATE: 12/22/2006 02:40:12 PM
I think this situation is a good lesson in information literacy. I agree receiving this sort of email can "come with the territory" when blogging. I appreciated Darren's research, and think the discussions/buzz around this are good as they point to the abiding need we have to analyze and understand informational sources as well as perceived agendas. It is a compliment to be listed, I agree!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Belshaw
EMAIL: mrbelshaw@gmail.com
IP: 88.107.243.146
URL: http://teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk
DATE: 12/22/2006 12:23:05 PM
I too received an email. I'd already found it via popurls.com and then Jimmy emailed me to make me aware of 'the content'. Although I still haven't added a link to it from my site, I'd have no problems with doing so. As Bud says, it was only after a couple of days that I made the 'Top 100' list anyways...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 207.195.51.29
URL: http://ideasandthoughts.org
DATE: 12/22/2006 11:44:49 AM
Actually I discovered my email in my spam folder....coincidence?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 12/22/2006 09:12:42 AM
Miguel, the gentleman in question is probably trying to gain some Google juice, but it wasn't a quid pro quo. I got both e-mails, and I wasn't asked to promote the article because of the list. Nor was I offered a spot on the list if I wrote about the article. (I didn't.) The sequence is wrong, too. I got the article e-mail two days before the list one, so he's not even guilty of the order of events that you state above. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs, but it seems to me that the guy's plenty transparent about some things -- and not so much about others. Pretty much like the rest of us. I find it funny that I'm even coming close to defending the fellow.
You know I'm a big believer in transparency. But I also like accuracy. As I saw you state somewhere else, let's give this gentleman the benefit of the doubt.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 216.120.146.60
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 12/22/2006 06:51:23 AM
I found this whole controversy VERY perplexing because I received NO e-mail, NO request to read an article, and NO request to mention anything favorable about any content on the web. In fact, If I hadn't been reading other edublogs that ahve posted about the Top 100 list, I wouldn't have known about it at all.
Go figure :)
And yea, I have received several press-release type e-mails, the same as you Bud. Most of them go the way yours do, in the e-mail trash bin, after relizing that they aren't terribly interesting to me. If I do choose to write about any of those press releases, you can be sure that I would make it well known that it came from a press release, and that I had genuinely thought the resource or news was noteworthy. I would expect the same from any self-respecting edublogger :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net
DATE: 12/22/2006 12:06:46 AM
Transparency was lacking in this quid pro quo between the "gentleman" in question and the bloggers. If the bloggers had not spoken up that they had been listed on the 100 list AND been asked to blog favorably about the Ultimate article mentioned in a separate email, that would have been a controversy.
The email and list author isn't being admonished because he was sharing, but because he placed blogs on a top 100 edu-blog list, then emailed some of them to write a favorable review about an article on the same site WITHOUT BEING FORTHCOMING (a.k.a. transparent) about the deal.
A blog would have allowed him to present the list, AND share the article with others. if he had done one or the other--article sharing email or top 100 edu-blogs list--then that would have not raised eyebrows.
In the end, who really cares? No money exchanged hands. But perhaps that's why it's so important that we get it straight...our only currency is honesty. Anything less leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
Thanks for sharing, Bud. Your "voice" came across powerfully well...it "read" like one of your podcasts you record in your car. Nice job!
Wishing you well,
Miguel Guhlin
Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
http://www.mguhlin.net
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Haskins
EMAIL: jhaskins52@aol.com
IP: 216.137.66.8
URL:
DATE: 12/21/2006 06:20:48 PM
I saw this "controversy" today on several of the blogs I read. I'm glad you posted this, I thought maybe I was the only one who didn't understand what that site did wrong? It appears they were somewhat self-promotional, but it didn't seem like they did any 'spamming' or were dishonest? And when did emailing someone become an ethical issue?
In any case I thought the list was great, I originally found it on Delicious/Popular and after clicking on most of the blogs my Bloglines is considerably more bloated.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Five Things (It's Memetastic!)
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
DATE: 12/21/2006 03:32:24 PM
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I've been tagged into the five things meme by Doug Belshaw. In a better attempt for you, dear reader, to get to know me better, I'm to "reveal" five things about myself that you otherwise wouldn't know from reading this blog. Here goes:
- I have a twin sister who teaches Kindergarten in the same school district where I work. In our first year of teaching, five years ago, we had a buddy program where, once a week, my students traveled to her classroom to read and write together. (And no, we're certainly NOT identical.)
- I am a pop trivia, um, freak. My students and colleagues know this, and, so whenever there's an essential question involving who played in what movie or sang on what film soundtrack or what the name of that one character's sister's dentist was, I get interrupted in class. I don't mind, and I actually enjoy being able to come up with an answer, most of the time, on the spot. One teacher has dubbed this frequent questioning "Stump Bud." She sometimes keeps score. Sometimes, students challenge me to tell them whether or not some bit of TV trivia is true. I was stumped when one student told me recently that MacGyver once fought Sasquatch. Turns out that's true.
- I dabble in music sometimes, and was the frontman of a band called Clockworked in the late '90s. If you need a song to add to your Christmas collection, try this one (iTunes link -- All others click here). I'm singing lead vocals. (I don't receive any money from the purchase of that song or album -- it goes to the label and to a local charity.) I also wrote and recorded the song that my wife and I shared our first dance to. She was pleasantly surprised.
- I'm not the handiest guy I know. But I like the idea of being handy. I have a love/hate relationship with Home Depot/Lowes-type stores. I go in amazed by opportunity and potential -- and leave empty handed, frustrated by my limited manual dexterity. It's entirely possible that I just spent several hours destroying the flat rear tire (and possibly wheel) of my snowblower. I have the same love/hate relationship with cooking shows, particularly Alton Brown's Good Eats.
- I think that This American Life is perhaps the best regular attempt at storytelling on the radio right now. (Here's a link to their podcast, in case you aren't already a listener.) I'd love to tell stories like this, but I can't. Yet. I love great storytellers like Ira Glass. I put him on a short list of favorites, people like Garrison Keillor, Charles Kuralt, and Walter Kronkite. I'd put newspaper columnists Bill Johnson and Lewis Grizzard on that list, too. I'd love to tell a story as well as these guys do or did. They tell real stories about real people in amazing and entertaining ways.
And now, it's my turn to tag some others. How about Karl, Cindy, Donna, Josh, and Tom?
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AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 70.21.199.142
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 12/26/2006 09:34:40 PM
Hey Bud -- I love This American Life -- especially since you can get the podcast now... I also love On the Media (http://www.onthemedia.org).
Happy Holidays.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jeff
EMAIL: jcwasserman@gmail.com
IP: 67.86.96.200
URL: http://jwasserman.edublogs.org
DATE: 12/25/2006 07:20:08 AM
This has to be my favorite meme of the year.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.165.202.170
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 12/22/2006 02:26:47 PM
Sheryl,
Glad you enjoyed it. How's about you take a turn? Or, in memespeak -- tag. You're it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Belshaw
EMAIL: mrbelshaw@gmail.com
IP: 88.107.243.146
URL: http://teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk
DATE: 12/22/2006 02:50:33 AM
Thanks for taking part, Bud - very enlightening! :-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
EMAIL: snbeach@cox.net
IP: 70.160.174.8
URL: http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog
DATE: 12/21/2006 08:41:40 PM
What a delightful idea.. 5 things I didn't know about you. I loved reading these things about you Bud. It made me feel closer to you as a person. Hope you and yours are holding up well in the blizzard. Stay safe and warm.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blizzard
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
DATE: 12/20/2006 09:57:12 AM
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I'm safely at home right now, enjoying the beginnings of my non-denominational seasonal special days break, and here comes the blizzard.
I'm thinking we're in for a white Christmas this year . . . .
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AUTHOR: Mary Lee
EMAIL: mlhahn@mac.com
IP: 69.223.153.104
URL: http://readingyear.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/21/2006 07:54:13 AM
Lucky you. By the time that storm gets to Ohio, we'll have a drippy, wet, rainy, grey Christmas. Bah, humbug. I'll have to look for my holiday spirit elsewhere. The eggnog, perhaps!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 12/20/2006 08:19:27 PM
I'm working on it. My driveway's north facing -- and the wind's blowing this way -- I might never get out of here again.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/20/2006 06:52:29 PM
I'll help you shovel if you come help me shovel. My driveway gets all the drifts in the neighborhood . . .
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: How Would You Set Up an Online Writing Group?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 12/19/2006 10:09:06 AM
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I've a colleague who has suggested starting an online writing group with some other colleagues spread around the United States. It's my job to come up with the platform for such a group. The online space would need to be private, capable of hosting files, and editable by the participants. My first thought was that I'd set up a Moodle for the group, giving every user teacher level access so that every member of the group could create and edit content.
How would you set up an online writing group for folks who want to share works in progress in order to get constructive feedback and support? While this, right now, is just for a few teachers, it might blossom into a student project -- so any software solution would need to be scalable.
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AUTHOR: Nani
EMAIL: nanirolls@gmail.com
IP: 67.87.94.91
URL: http://nycwp.net/nancybrodsky
DATE: 01/06/2007 05:33:31 PM
I'm doing a Professional Writer's Retreat with the NYCWP this year. We've set up a Google Group to communicate with each other, and with Google Group's file upload (in the beta version), you can share files.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Art Lader
EMAIL: artlader@4germanteachers.com
IP: 70.152.184.172
URL: http://4germanteachers.com
DATE: 12/20/2006 07:04:52 AM
I would investigate Moodle. I use it all the time and it seems to me that it would be perfect for this endeavor.
Best regards,
Art Lader
http://4germanteachers.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy
EMAIL: nsharoff@ecs.k12.ny.us
IP: 64.75.69.2
URL:
DATE: 12/20/2006 06:32:03 AM
Are you looking at each participant doing a writing and having others comment? Or are you looking at one document w/ comments and changes coming from all participants?
If the former, I would think that setting up individual forums for each participant would be the way to go so that the areas are clearly defined.
What topic(s) are you looking to write about?
Sounds like a very worthwhile project and something that the Web 2.0 is meant to support.
Good luck!
Nancy
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill Fitzgerald
EMAIL: bill@openacademic.com
IP: 67.160.162.39
URL: http://www.funnymonkey.com
DATE: 12/19/2006 10:03:04 PM
Hello, Bud,
Drupal.
I'm building a site right now in Drupal that meets this precise need.
It gives a collaborative workspace for groups, and can scale upwards to meet expanding membership.
I would recommend against google docs, as this will not scale upwards in a user friendly way. You also don't have control over your data -- but, admittedly, I'm a bit more finicky about that than most :)
Cheers,
Bill
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 216.56.42.130
URL: http://www.pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 12/19/2006 11:49:28 AM
I'm working with a small school district right now (30 teachers) to build their curriculum within Google Docs. Go spend some time imagining your project over there.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.190.113
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com/
DATE: 12/19/2006 10:24:39 AM
While I've been using Moodle with my Art Club, I prefer the comment features available with wikis (Wikispaces is my favorite so far) and/or Drupal (with which I've just recently fallen in love). Drupal even has a feature that lets you create collaborative books, but I haven't played with that yet.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scott S. Floyd
EMAIL: floyds@whiteoak.esc7.net
IP: 69.155.178.3
URL: http://www.txbluebonnetwp.org/bluebonnet/Blog/Blog.html
DATE: 12/19/2006 10:20:32 AM
Could you not do that with Google Docs? Keep them private and invite on the participants you want to each document. Comments could be added in different colors.
What about a locally hosted wiki? Could you lock it down for the privacy you are after?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: NAGoogle or GooNASA
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Space
DATE: 12/18/2006 10:01:44 AM
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Here's an update on the Google/NASA collaboration.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: NASA & Google Hooking Up
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Space
DATE: 12/17/2006 11:48:53 PM
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This press release announces an event to announce a partnership between Google and NASA. Hmm . . . . I'll be listening to hear what the announcement actually is. In the meantime, anyone want to harbor a guess?
(via Drudge)
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AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 216.120.146.60
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 12/18/2006 06:34:41 AM
My guess would be some collaboration on the next version of Google Earth, incorporating all of the data and other features of the NASA World Wind program into GE.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.190.110
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com/
DATE: 12/18/2006 05:52:09 AM
My guess is it'll be something to do with Google Earth or a similar program.
Google Milky Way, perhaps?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Podcast: NCTE 2006 Presentation
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Professional Development
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 12/17/2006 10:36:57 PM
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After a long delay (one month, to be precise), I present to you, via podcast, the audio from Greg, Bill and my presentation at NCTE's 2006 Annual Convention. The hour and fifteen minute workshop is about how we are using blogs with our students in different ways and for different purposes. My contribution to the presentation is the "why" of Web 2.0 .
We were fortunate to have a big and friendly audience for our presentation, and you'll notice a deterioration in the audio quality when I enter the audience to solicit some ideas and participation for my yarn activity. Enjoy the chaos -- just pull out a bit of yarn and you're right there with us.
Here's the presentation wiki that we used as a handout -- all the links referenced in the podcast can be found there. Feel free to add to the wiki if you'd like.
I'd draw your attention to two moments from my portion of the presentation. First, when I got to the room where we were presenting, I was listening to the previous presenter talking with someone. I recognized the voice, and the content sounded familiar -- eventually, I realized I was sharing a room with Clarence Fisher. That was pretty cool, and you'll notice that I refer to that moment in the podcast.
Second, I think I make a rather bold statement when I tell the audience that it's selfish of them to keep the good work going on in their classrooms to themselves. It's selfish to not blog, or otherwise publish. Just plain selfish. How dare you keep the good stuff to yourself?
Too harsh?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Hooray, us!
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 12/17/2006 09:56:23 AM
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Congratulations, y'all. We're all the people of the year, according to Time, at least.
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AUTHOR: Jennifer
EMAIL: jlw@technospud.com
IP: 69.231.199.162
URL: http://www.technospud.com
DATE: 12/18/2006 11:09:20 AM
Ahhh - how great to FINALLY be recognized for all our hard work.
Grins -- congrats to you -- and congrats to us all.
JenniferW
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kevin Hodgson
EMAIL: dogtrax@gmail.com
IP: 159.250.65.242
URL: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/
DATE: 12/17/2006 12:57:28 PM
Hi Bud
My principal actually gave ME a copy of the article (usually, info flows the other direction) so I took that to be another sign that I am slipping in the right direction (this week).
Peace,
Kevin
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 151.196.167.119
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com
DATE: 12/17/2006 12:31:47 PM
I'd like to thank God, my agent, and all the little people I crushed on the way to the top. ;)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: In My Head
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 12/13/2006 11:41:51 PM
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I've been meaning to mention that I had an opportunity to speak with Harris at VisualThesaurus about my classroom practice for a feature interview at his place. Might be interesting to some of you.
Then again, might not, but I enjoyed the conversation. Thanks, Harris.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Answer to my (Friend's) Dilemma
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Film
DATE: 12/13/2006 10:48:42 PM
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My thanks to those of you who offered help and assistance, both in public and in private, to my "friend" yesterday. After lots of right moves down wrong roads, I thought I'd, as Stephen asked me to, share how I got from the DVD to a file that we could use in Windows Movie Maker.
Via the comments, I discovered Handbrake, a cool piece of software that did the ripping/encoding work that I needed. Using Handbrake's Windows version (which is pretty new, I guess), I was able to get the video and audio off of the DVD and into .mp4 format. But Windows Movie Maker couldn't work with that, so I needed to do another conversion. I immediately thought of Zamzar, but my file was too big (Zamzar has a maximum upload size of 100 MB per file). So I searched for, found, and installed several promising little programs.
Since not a single one of them worked properly, or would allow me to do a full conversion without paying a fee, I'm not going to tell you which ones I found. What I will tell you is that I eventually realized that I could use Handbrake to encode the files into smaller chunks (basically, going chapter by chapter from the DVD), which I could then upload to Zamzar and transfer to .avi.
Within twenty minutes of uploading an awful lot of video, I was able to download the converted files, which I then burned to a CD for my student.
Whew. I rather hate video. But, as more and more folks get into using video online on a regular basis, I have a hunch that there'll be more universal tools out there so, hopefully, I won't ever have a funky video experience like this again.
(Hurry up, video software folks.)
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AUTHOR: Gary
EMAIL: gbertoia@gmail.com
IP: 195.229.242.88
URL: http://hs.acs.sch.ae/tech
DATE: 12/15/2006 02:34:20 AM
I have also been using handbrake (for Mac). Once I get the MP4 I have been using ffmpegx or VisualHub to convert the files to another format. At this point we are using moodle to house the students videos and we have been converting the kids work to .fla format to display on the web.
gary
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 12/14/2006 07:49:18 AM
Yeah, I don't usually steer students to video. But they sometimes want to make movies -- and I need to learn how, so this is how we learn. Personally, I prefer audio, not only because it's much easier to edit and work with, but also because it's more portable -- both to create and to consume.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 69.179.123.43
URL: http://www.pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 12/14/2006 06:11:58 AM
This is exactly why I steer teachers away from video and closer to podcasting these days. So much more flexible at the end.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Discovery Educators' Network
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
DATE: 12/11/2006 10:32:48 PM
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I've been watching the recent shake up over at the Discovery Educators' Network as it's developed over the last few days, and I've got to say that I'm stunned. The cynic in me sees that Discovery just took advantage of some fine people in order to build a network of passionate folks in a very short time -- but the realist in me sees what too often happens with good projects, good ideas, and good people -- priorities change.
See, I guess one of the reasons that I was pulling for Discovery, in spite of their "let's toss some freebies at every teacher we see" mentality, I noticed that they were really reaching out to teachers and offering to help them learn, explore and discover the benefits that technology has to offer both students AND teachers. Through all of their focus on training and building relationships, an awful lot of teachers were getting access to meaningful and long term professional development.
I guess I thought that was a fine project for an American corporation to be involved in. I still do, in fact. Too bad someone over there changed their mind.
See, one of the other reasons that I'm so fascinated by what happened to the staff of regional field managers is that I spent several months this years engaged in a process to possibly become one.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: DVD Conversion
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
DATE: 12/11/2006 10:18:05 PM
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I have this, uh, friend. He's a teacher working with a student on a video project, and he kinda told this student that he could, uh, very easily convert video from DVD (.vob) to a format that he could work with in Windows Movie Maker.
I This friend needs to get started on that conversion, and he's found several programs that will do the job -- but they all cost around $30.00. That's too expensive for me this friend. The "free" versions of these tools will only convert about half of any particular file without being registered, which isn't quite what I my friend needs. All the files we're transferring are original work; the student shot them this month.
I know he's already considered online services -- but the files are
really too big for uploading in any reasonable length of time. Any suggestions? I'll be sure to let him know.
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AUTHOR: Keith
EMAIL: sooner75_99@yahoo.com
IP: 75.24.171.130
URL:
DATE: 12/15/2006 01:05:21 PM
I like to use DVD decrypt to rip the DVD and then Videora converter to make it readable for WMM.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pat
EMAIL: pljohnson@gmail.com
IP: 64.75.65.51
URL:
DATE: 12/15/2006 11:19:07 AM
DVDx Ultra Edition (freeware) works great at converting DVD's (LEGAL ones) back to a format such as avi for use in an editing program. I use it all the time. Takes a while but works perfectly.
Just google for it. I think it is labDV.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tadge O'Brien
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 199.190.224.132
URL: http://wiki.monroe.edu
DATE: 12/13/2006 10:44:02 AM
Bud,
I think if you find the largest .VOB you can simply change the extension to either .AVI or .MPG and it will work. The VOBs are encoded as mpeg2 unusually. The VOB is encoded so the DVD player will see it. Give it a try before, it has been a while since I tried and can't remember if there are any sticking points.
Tadge
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Christine K (Danielle's mom)
EMAIL: kellycl@comcast.net
IP: 216.217.102.126
URL:
DATE: 12/12/2006 03:59:56 PM
Have you tried Cheetah DVD?
I have a copy if you need it and I can give it to you easily...just email me and let me know...
http://www.cheetahburner.com/
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 205.200.98.7
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/12/2006 02:55:30 PM
Two ideas:
(1) Upload it to google video. It'll be faster than you think. Everything you need is right here for downloading video from YouTube or Google Video. Including info on the conversion process. You can also watch this. Although it shows video downloading (which takes longer than illustrated) from YouTube it will also work at Google Video. (Warning: An off colour example is used.)
(2) Get yourself an account at mediamax.com (25 Gb of free space). Move the file to your "hosted" folder. Email me the link. I'll try to convert it and get it back to you via my mediamax account.
Cheers!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 69.179.123.43
URL: http://www.pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 12/12/2006 06:01:41 AM
Handbrake.
That's funny. This conversation has come up 3 times in the last week for me.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karen Phillips
EMAIL: scubatek@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.116.181
URL: http://www.edutechtrek.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/12/2006 05:56:27 AM
Hi Bud,
If you have access to a Mac, download the free program Handbrake and save the movie as an .avi file to transfer to your PC. Handbrake is also excellent for converting to iPod compatible MPEG-4 as well. I've been using this program all week to convert some personal DVD's and it's worked like a charm!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Stephen Downes
EMAIL: stephen@downes.ca
IP: 74.106.35.187
URL: http://www.downes.ca
DATE: 12/12/2006 05:30:22 AM
I have had to use Adobe premiere to convert my (legally recorded) digital video DVDs to a useful format. So if you get a good solution, I hope you blog it though that said, not that I have Premiere, I don't need it...)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cheryl Lykowski
EMAIL: cheryl.lykowski@bedford.k12.mi.us
IP: 72.241.94.118
URL: http://webexplorer.edublogs.org/
DATE: 12/12/2006 03:48:32 AM
Bud,
Do you mean that the video has already been finalized as a dvd format? I have a digital camcorder that easily transfers footage to MovieMaker, (This is what my students use for their weekly broadcast 'news' show)but I'm sure you, er your friend already knows how to do that. I would be interested in finding out your ah friend's solution. I ran into this problem last week.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Feeds for Younger Readers
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/10/2006 09:38:22 PM
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BODY:
Nancy's begun a blogging project with some 4th through 6th graders, and needs your help for suggestions for RSS feeds for them to read and learn from. Can you suggest any grade level specific content for her? Also, are your 4th-6th graders blogging? Maybe y'all should hook up.
Leave a comment -- and be sure to check out their blog. Lots of interesting posts from some interesting young people, each of whom has a blog via the sidebar.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Publishing Opportunities
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: English Journal
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 12/04/2006 02:48:49 PM
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In one of my roles as the co-editor of the New Voices column for English Journal, I regularly have space in a print publication to discuss how particular issues or topics in language arts instruction at the secondary level affect or are affected by early career teachers. There are several upcoming calls that would be appropriate for writers from this community to address, so I thought I'd better pass along the calls here. If these interest you, and you'd like to submit a manuscript, or ask any questions whatsoever, please do. Take a look. It's my job to help you get published, not to keep it from happening. In addition, you don't need to be an early career teacher in order to write with me -- you just need to be relevant to early career teachers.
You can find more upcoming calls, or more information about requirements, at EJ's website. If you're interested, I'd need to hear from you by the postmark deadline on these calls. But I've got some additional time flexibility, so if you're interested but need a little extra time, I can make that work, too.:
Postmark Deadline: January 15, 2007
Publication Date: September 2007
As
our vision of what counts as texts enlarges, educators are increasingly
interested in not only meanings but also representations. We find a
variety of ways of labeling our interests in this broader area of
meaning-making—multimodal literacy, media literacy, new literacies,
multiliteracies—each with slightly different meanings and uses. For
this issue, we are not interested in pinning down a particular
definition or set of assumptions and approaches. Instead, we are
interested in knowing what you do to help students recognize new
textual media, understand how texts are created, and think critically
about how representation influences meaning and value. We invite you to
consider the following questions or create your own. In all cases, we
are interested in the research and/or theory that support your practice.
In
what ways have you expanded the texts you include in class? What roles
do graphic novels, video and film, blogs, sound files, visual art
(graphic design), or other texts play in instruction? How do you help
students understand why certain texts have been valued and others
dismissed? In what ways do you engender understanding of media
production and consumerism? What multimodal representations do you
encourage students to use and critique? What projects or demonstrations
do you use to create and assess students' multiple literacies? How do
you employ and/or critique digital technologies? How do you address
ethics?
Postmark Deadline: March 15, 2007
Publication Date: November 2007
To transform
is to change substance and form, or to re-create by reconceiving,
resituating, reimagining. Because teachers are always in the midst of
change, we know that not all change is transformative. True
transformation results in changed perspectives and practices, even new
paradigms. For this issue, we invite you to write about transformations
in teaching English language arts in the past, present, and future,
with an emphasis on how and why such transformations are significant in
the twenty-first century. We also seek manuscripts that show how you
help students use the English language arts to transform their world.
How
has the profession been transformed by historical moments, such as the
formation of NCTE in 1911, the Dartmouth Seminar in 1966, or the
English Coalition Conference in 1987, and what is the current
significance of such a historical event? How have the provisions and
implications of NCLB affected English language arts curriculum and
instruction? In what ways have those changes been transformative, or
how could they be? In an era of high-stakes testing, how are we
teaching beyond tests to help adolescents deal with the challenges of
being teenagers in difficult times or learn lessons that will help them
live productive lives after graduation? What are English language arts
teachers doing to address achievement gaps experienced because of
differences in gender, race, class, and language? How is teaching for
social change or justice a transformative approach? How have you used
technology to transform your teaching and students' learning? What
transformations are essential, and how can we make them?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Never Enough
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Family
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 12/04/2006 10:12:57 AM
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Seven short paragraphs is never enough for the story of someone's life. But y'all know that.
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/05/2006 08:29:07 AM
Thank you for sharing this, for giving us the opportunity to learn a little about your grandfather -- even though these probably aren't the things you would most want someone to know about him.
You and your grandfather are in my thoughts and prayers.
Nancy
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anne Davis
EMAIL: adavis@gsu.edu
IP: 131.96.242.239
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com
DATE: 12/04/2006 03:26:19 PM
You're right Bud. It is never enough. I was very sad to hear about your grandfather. You are now in my old territory - many years ago I attended Winthrop in Rock Hill - lots of good memories. It is a small world. My thoughts and prayers have been with you and your family.
Best,
Anne
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Greg Van Nest
EMAIL: gregorvn@yahoo.com
IP: 207.99.90.253
URL: http://gvannest.edublogs.org/
DATE: 12/04/2006 11:13:35 AM
I'm very sorry for your loss, Bud.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Going South
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 11/28/2006 11:38:09 PM
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As best as I can determine, the first reference on the Internet to my grandfather, a man that I know far too little about, is this one.
My given name, Edward, is/was/will always be his, too. (Bud, the nickname that I've used for everyone except substitute teachers and bank tellers, is/was/will forever be my father's father's name. I was named for both of my grandfathers.)
I'll be offline much of this week, with family in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where I used to play in my Granddaddy's amazing garden.
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AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 71.17.49.48
URL: http://ideasandthoughts.org
DATE: 12/12/2006 10:10:29 PM
Sorry to hear about your Grandfather. Thanks for sharing though. This type of vulnerability, disclosure and personal touch remind me that blogging provides us with connections that run fairly deep. Never met you, only chatted with you briefly but your grief matters to me.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill
EMAIL: wbass@hazelwoodschools.org
IP: 64.241.37.140
URL: http://wbass.edublogs.org
DATE: 12/03/2006 05:43:12 PM
So sorry to hear Bud. My thoughts are with you.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 24.215.80.93
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 12/01/2006 04:32:48 AM
Peace.
dave.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 24.78.137.54
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/30/2006 10:20:22 PM
Oh no ... Bud, I'm so sorry.
Thinking of you.
Your Friend,
Darren
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Malini Roy
EMAIL: mxroyx@wm.edu
IP: 70.186.198.201
URL: http://www.mxroyx.blogspot.com/
DATE: 11/30/2006 06:34:41 PM
Bud,
You commented a while back on one of my posts asking what an ELMO is. An ELMO is an overhead projector where the paper does not have to be transparency paper. I really enjoy using it to write notes for my students while lecturing. As I mentioned before, I used it once to read a book to my students so they could see the pictures. However, I found that the traditional way of reading a back to be much better. The ELMO seemed awkward for this purpose, and it was difficult to get the whole picture to show. Do you have these in your school?
Malini
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Craft
EMAIL: crafty184@gmail.com
IP: 72.159.151.254
URL: http://www.thinkingaboutteaching.com
DATE: 11/29/2006 04:57:04 AM
Wow! Headed for the Palmetto state!
If you make it further south, let me know. I am about an hour south of Rock Hill in Columbia, SC. I'd love a cup of coffee if you get a free minute. I know it's family time but if you end up on the road or anything, let me know.
I'll be in Tampa, FL until late Friday night (12.01) and back in full force Saturday morning.
Yours,
Chris Craft
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Being a Node
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/28/2006 03:43:28 PM
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BODY:
I'm easing back into the blog after a restful Thanksgiving and an unfortunate start to my week. Two recent postings by others seemed appropriate to pass along as I get back into the swing. The first, from Cindy, is a request that I'd like to help her with, as I feel somewhat proud and responsible for her recent large swigs from the blogging Kool-Aid punch bowl. She's looking to develop some traffic for her preservice teachers who are blogging at CSU. You can find their blogs in the sidebar to her's, where you'll find more and more interesting ruminations.
The second, and more controversial of the two, comes from Jeff Utecht, via a head's up from Jenny. An interesting question here:
What is the difference between us telling a student to use a fake
name on their blog or on the web and a 13 year old pretending to be 18
on myspace?
We teach them to be safe on the web, to hide their identity to
basically ‘lie’ about who they are. But, when they do it on myspace we
say how horrible that is that they pretend to be someone else. We then
go so far as professionals to put our Biases and Disclosure notices to show how honest we are.
Now pretend you’re 13….is this confusing?
I've commented, and you might consider it, too. I think there's an interesting tension, in both the question and the responses, between the two ideas of anonymity and safety, as if the second requires the first. I think that's bogus, and that you can share some of who you are and still remain safe online, despite other smart folks who happen to disagree. There's a big ol' messy space between being completely anonymous and giving out your home address and phone number. Total anonymity, I believe, and have noticed over time, leads to irresponsibility in too many cases.
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AUTHOR: Andrea
EMAIL: alzellner@comcast.net
IP: 71.227.50.29
URL:
DATE: 12/02/2006 08:20:27 AM
I have come across this "lying" business recently in two different situations. The first is this interesting dilemma you have posed. I believe that students can be open to discussion about ethics on the web. Every day we are confronted with different moments when we decide it is okay to "lie" about something: from avoiding the "does this make me look fat" discussion to concealing one's identity from on-line predators. In order to commit to the idea that I am teaching future citizens, future politicians, future leaders of corporations, future jurists, etc., I also need to commit to the idea that students can handle discussion of the gray areas of ethical considerations. Interestingly, my students are writing personal narratives, and we have been having discussions regarding "embellishing" details in a personal narrative. My students invariably find this to be a form of "lying" and have come to the conclusion that all memoirists lie. After James Frey, who can blame them? It is interesting to note that in different genres (on-line profiles, the personal narrative) truth is not a definitive place, but rather subjective to the situation. Tricky, very tricky.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karen Phillips
EMAIL: scubatek@gmail.com
IP: 204.112.152.76
URL: http://www.edutechtrek.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/29/2006 06:36:10 PM
I had a situation today where I had to address some 'unsafe' behaviour from some of my middle years kids. In my position as technology teacher/leader in my building I sometimes do a search for general information in myspace.com, picso.com, etc. I want to know what my kiddos are up to in cyberspace. I found some accounts that give out full names, school name, age, and neighbourhood information. I spent the day today going over 'internet safety' with all of my 5-8 classes.
One question came up today, "Is it ok if we use fake information?" I said it would be safer but that their parents need to be aware that they have these accounts and to talk it over with them. So.....I see your point. Student safety is foremost my biggest concern but where do we draw the line? Hmmmmm.....sure makes me think!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.146.79
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/28/2006 06:28:27 PM
Thanks for the pointer. It is a very thought provoking albeit brief blog post (we need more of those!)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: On Holiday
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 11/20/2006 04:01:49 PM
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I'm going to be offline for much of the week as I'm headed off to spend some time with family. I'm planning on posting lots of convention reflections when I return, as well as some thoughts on ARG's and their potential in schools, a podcast from my NCTE presentation, and plenty more.
I hope all y'all that I met in Nashville are up to good things, or enjoying a well deserved break, and that your travel home was safe. I hope all the rest of you are keeping busy with good and important work and family and life.
Happy Thanksgiving to all, whether or not you actually celebrate the holiday. There's lots to be thankful for, isn't there?
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AUTHOR: Malini Roy
EMAIL: mxroyx@wm.edu
IP: 128.239.214.124
URL: http://www.mxroyx.blogspot.com/
DATE: 11/27/2006 12:49:10 PM
Bud,
A while back you left me a comment on my "Honor Code Violation" post. You made a very important point that students should not only learn how to put information from other sources into their own words, but also cite the source. Check out my latest posting in response to your comment at http://www.mxroyx.blogspot.com/.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Michele C. Peterson
EMAIL: PetersonMichele@comcast.net
IP: 67.175.30.29
URL:
DATE: 11/24/2006 04:55:49 PM
Hi Bud,
You're absolutely right about my screen. I can't read all of it, because there's no directional. Please give me some suggestions.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lynne Culp
EMAIL: lculp@pacbell.net
IP: 204.108.96.19
URL:
DATE: 11/21/2006 11:30:00 AM
Hi, Bud,
We met in the morning of the NWP address, and I promised I would post the story of my listening to your podcasts from Colorado State.
Two summers ago, I began every day with an hour walk around a golf course near my house in Toluca Lake. I listened to wonderful Mp3s I had carefully playlisted on my iPod. Then, I discovered iTunes listing of podcasts. I knew David Warlick so I downloaded his podcasts which were not too regular at first,but low-and-behold...here was a podcast listing that said nothing but CSU Writing Project. California chauvinist that I am, I thought it was from a California Writing Project...maybe up north. I cheerfully downloaded it, thinking...oh, I'll listen for five minutes then go back to my cooking show. But...that was not to be. I strolled the whole perimeter of the golf course, listening to story after story. I found the and the readings completely compelling. "It's voice, I thought...and it is communicating to me even though I don't know them, don't know where they are...it holds me fast." Very shortly I told Jane Hancock, the co-director of UCLA's Writing Project about this amazing opportunity for our writing project people. "We could put on a show too," I cried. However, I remained a voice in the desert until last fall when the NWP requested that UCLA appoint a TL. They did. It's me, and that is how I met you last Friday morning.
If I sound a bit over the top, it is because the listening to those writing project voices was my first understanding of how powerful podcasting could be. Today, when I scroll down the ever-growing iTunes list, I remember how vivid the realization was.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Learning to Speak. Again.
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Hope
DATE: 11/20/2006 02:18:10 PM
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Terry Elliot passes this along, and I will, too, as this is Thanksgiving Week in the United States, and there's often much to be thankful for that we simply take for granted.
The Dilbert Blog: Good News Day
As regular readers of my blog know, I lost my voice about 18 months
ago. Permanently. It’s something exotic called Spasmodic Dysphonia.
~Scott Adams
So begins the incredible story of how Dilbert creator
Scott Adams used poetry to cure his disease. OK, I am exagerrating a
bit here, but the story does resonate with some old and new ideas.
First, it supports the old idea that experts should never be on top,
but only on tap. In other words it celebrates the belief that personal
responsibility should be at the core of any credo of any substance.
Second, it supports the newish idea of the wisdom of crowds and
folksonomies. Instead of internalizing our own victimhood, Adams
breaks out to tell a new story. There is a danger to this. As Steve
Biko said, “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the
mind of the oppressed.”
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Day I Need Tech Support
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Access
DATE: 11/20/2006 02:11:09 PM
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I've come to depend quite heavily on my Bloglines account -- it's where I keep the people that teach me what I need to know, as well as what I need to need to know, if that makes sense.
My aggregator is the glue that holds all of my network together. When it works.
Has anyone else been having trouble with Bloglines recently? I'm logging on to find no feeds sometimes, or a messed up memory of what I have and haven't read. I thought perhaps that the problem was me -- but it isn't. I've had the same issues on different computers and networks.
Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Yuck. When my aggregator isn't working, I'm lost.
I recognize that Bloglines is a free service, and that I'm getting way more than what I'm paying for, but I've come to count on the service. I need it to work. All of the time.
Help? I'd hate to move elsewhere. But I might have to.
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AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 71.17.49.48
URL: http://ideasandthoughts.org
DATE: 11/27/2006 07:53:58 PM
Same issue here Bud. Happened around last Wednesday. I emailed Bloglines about it today. Jeff Utecht's issue has been resolved I think. Hopefully the same will happen for us as well.
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AUTHOR: Almost American
EMAIL: almost.american@yahoo.com
IP: 71.233.212.163
URL: http://almostamerican.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/26/2006 04:44:39 PM
Ah - it's happening to someone else too. I thought it was something strange going on with the blogs I have subscribed too. Recently Bloglines will tell me that I have anywhere from 2 or 3 to 50 posts that I haven't read. One or two I understand - if the author has modified them they are showing up as unread again - but 50?!
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AUTHOR: Jeff Utecht
EMAIL: thinkingstick@gmail.com
IP: 218.1.89.182
URL: http://www.thethinkingstick.com
DATE: 11/21/2006 05:31:31 AM
Glad it's not just me. I noticed my feed burner reader icon drop 120 readers on Friday. After a little investigation I found that they were all Bloglines subscribers. Somethings up, looks like it happened Friday around midnight. If anyone finds out what the problem is, let me know.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.204.182
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 11/20/2006 07:14:15 PM
I made the leap to Google Reader and haven't looked back. It is clearly better in my opinion.
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AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.210.40
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/20/2006 06:38:49 PM
Bloglines has been a little whacky for me lately too. Some of it is that some blogs in me feed-collection are switching to the new Blogger beta (at least that seems to be some of the problem).
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AUTHOR: Jeff Wasserman
EMAIL: jcwasserman@gmail.com
IP: 67.87.13.38
URL: http://jwasserman.edublogs.org
DATE: 11/20/2006 03:25:12 PM
Yeah, I got that pretty much all day today. Unfortunately, I haven't found another aggregator I like better--don't even get me started on Netvibes...
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AUTHOR: Scott S. Floyd
EMAIL: floyds@whiteoak.esc7.net
IP: 69.155.178.3
URL:
DATE: 11/20/2006 02:49:38 PM
I'm with you, man. I have seen that plumber guy one too many times already on the screen when checking my account. Maybe it will be smooth sailing again soon.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Hmm . . .
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 11/20/2006 09:01:46 AM
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An alert reader pointed out that the calendar in the top right corner of my blog is redirecting folks to another Typepad blog.
Huh.
I haven't a clue about why this is happening, but I have put in a request to tech support to solve the problem. For the moment, please avoid the calendar -- I can't guarantee that you'll find me linked there.
I originally went with Typepad, in part, because I liked how well everything works. But over the last year, there have been problems. It's beginning to get frustrating.
Typepad, I know I'm certainly not your biggest customer, but I really like your product, when it works. Problem is, that isn't as often as it should be. I've noticed that you never fail to collect the payment from me each month -- that system never seems to be broken.
Can you please fix the rest of your system so that I will stick with you?
UPDATE: Magically fixed. Why'd it break in the first place?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Sunday Night Social Subversion . . . postponed to Monday Morning
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Filtering
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Vandalism
DATE: 11/20/2006 08:57:27 AM
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I'm curious to see if this idea works, in spite of the fact that I'm not sure I agree with it.
(Actually, I wrote this post on Sunday night, but held off on publishing until I could reflect on some of the really good questions asked in the comments to Tom's idea. Now that I've read this follow up by Tom, I'm definitely in, although there's still much to consider when it comes to treating the web like a special episode of American Idol . . . or the US Congressional elections.)
Bombs away.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Bloggers: Better People?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/19/2006 09:51:48 PM
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Cindy says that blogging can maybe make her a better person:
Knowledge-in-progress, networking, and democracy as an instrument of
change. Now that's something that will get me blogging...and maybe,
just maybe, make me a better person all at the same time.
I'm not so sure about that, but I'm pleased to see her beginning to see the potential. Her post is a personal epiphany. I like it when smart people choose to share.
And Cindy's wicked smart.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: So Much to Write . . .So Little Internet Access
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/18/2006 01:58:56 PM
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I'm writing to you right now from a public computer terminal inside the NCTE Exhibit Hall at Opryland. It's been a crazy and rewarding couple of days -- two successful presentations with smart colleagues on blogging and social site design, some good meals and better conversation with friends and family, as well as several "meetups" with colleagues from cyberspace whom I've never met face to face -- Paul Allison, Chris Sloan, Kevin Hodgson, Mary Lee and Clarence Fisher are some of those I actually shook hands and spoken with -- although I know there are other readers lurking at this conference. I also managed to entice some well-intentioned stalking (follow the link for a short podcast). It's weird to be a person via text before being a person, ahem, in person. But it's also cool, because I feel so often like I'm continuing a conversation, rather than meeting someone new, although I've met several new folks that I hope will become contributors via their own blogs. (Feel free to share a link to your new blog, or any feedback you might have, in the comments.)
Plenty more to post -- but I'm off to another session. I'll upload some audio from one presentation once I get a chance to get my own machine back online. Tonight's one of my most favorite annual events. Perhaps I'll see some of you there.
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AUTHOR: Kevin Hodgson
EMAIL: dogtrax@gmail.com
IP: 159.250.66.10
URL: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/
DATE: 11/19/2006 09:46:23 AM
Hi Bud
You did a fantastic job with Troy on your presentation at NWP, regarding interactivity elements built into web design (I know, design is not your thing, still ...)
My question remains: Do we push for interactivity because we (techies) want it and we think others need it or do we push it because we think our people (casual users) want it and just don't know how to do it? We all had stories about disappointments to balance your stories of success. (sigh).
Anyway, thanks for sharing your insights and enthusiasm for the unfolding digital world. Your thinking along all of these lines helps the rest of us mull over the possibilities.
It was a great pleasure to say hello to you.
Kevin Hodgson
Western Mass Writing Project
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mary Lee
EMAIL: mlhahn@mac.com
IP: 12.153.11.141
URL: http://readingyear.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/18/2006 04:03:28 PM
Thanks for the link -- needs a little tweek, please, to work:
readingyear.blogspot.com
Great meeting you!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Disruption, on a City Wide Scale
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Access
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 11/16/2006 10:29:55 AM
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Sometime in the next six months, Longmont, the city where I teach, will be rolling out a city-wide wireless network. Some of my students have their own, WiFi equipped, laptop computers. Not many, but some.
Uh oh.
Can you imagine what's about to happen? The storm that's going to be coming? The only way to keep out unfiltered bandwidth would be to ban all devices that aren't school network devices. I don't see that being a viable solution at all -- students bringing their own computers improves access for everyone.
The world is coming into our classrooms. It's scary, disruptive, messy, engaging, beautiful, offensive, ugly, nice, mean, upset, upside down, and a whole lot else. Time for us to deal with it rather than try to hide behind a blanket.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://budtheteacher.typepad.com
DATE: 11/20/2006 02:51:06 PM
Jessica, that's a great question. I agree completely -- but have found that many administrators and tech folks want to ensure the stability and security of their networks at all costs.
I'm excited for the new network, as it's going to force us to ask some very serious questions about how access to technology provides opportunity for teaching, learning, and for discovering how big and wide and open the world is becoming.
We cannot close our schools off from the outside world.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jessica Green
EMAIL: Jessica_green@fcasd.edu
IP: 192.124.34.184
URL:
DATE: 11/20/2006 06:35:36 AM
At the conference you spoke of being irresponsible for hording our "good stuff" as teachers. Same goes for technology. Hording access to the world, the bus ticket to the global village, is irresponsible as teachers. We should be thrilled that they will have the access to technology while in our classrooms; we can teach them how to "ride" responsibly. Now, the key is how to navigate when admin. puts in various roadblocks. Why is it that instead of teaching kids about dangers in the world, we hide them from them?
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AUTHOR: Scott S. Floyd
EMAIL: floyds@whiteoak.esc7.net
IP: 65.201.110.163
URL: http://www.txbluebonnetwp.org/bluebonnet/Blog/Blog.html
DATE: 11/17/2006 03:34:24 PM
I am working with the Cisco crew Thanksgiving week to install a wireless cloud over each of our campuses. This will be interesting. It will be fun, but it will be interesting. Needless to say, my room will have a strong wireless signal about it. ;)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pam Shoemaker
EMAIL: shoemap@walledlake.k12.mi.us
IP: 75.46.13.210
URL: http://shoemap.edublogs.org
DATE: 11/16/2006 06:55:13 PM
Bud,
In the district where I work (Walled Lake in SE Michigan), we have hundreds of students bringing in laptops they own and we encourage them to do so. It is not without problems... but they supplement the laptops that are provided by the district at our schools. Yes, it is scary, but with proper planning and expectations, it is worth it!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Congratulations
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 11/16/2006 10:20:03 AM
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My superintendent was honored yesterday by the Colorado Association of School Executives as the Colorado Superintendent of the Year. Very cool. I respect him very much, and feel he's the right guy to win this award.
I was pleasantly surprised, too, to see that my local newspaper has begun to embed video on its site. Neat development.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I Forgot
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 11/16/2006 10:14:42 AM
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I forgot just how easy it is to use a camera phone to send photos to Flickr. It took me longer to enter in the e-mail address for my Flickr account than it did for the first, and unashamedly ugly, photo to upload. Since I've set up the account to automatically add the "csuwp" tag to all photos that I'm sending, then my Flickr badge on the CSUWP blog is also automagically updating.
Cool. I continually forget how powerful these phones are getting.
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AUTHOR: Michele C. Peterson
EMAIL: PetersonMichele@comcast.net
IP: 67.175.30.29
URL:
DATE: 11/24/2006 04:51:56 PM
That's great news to hear about your Supt. honor. My daughter Melissa and her husband Chad, and Bryce Anderson live in Littleton, Colorado. She was a Music/Voice teacher at the Middle School in Gurnee, Il.
It was wonderful hearing from you. I am a teacher also. I teach at Hulse Detention Center in Vernon Hills, Il. You're welcomed to come and talk to the residents and motivate them.
Have a great holiday weekend.
Michele C. Peterson
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Another Nominatory Process
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/16/2006 09:02:07 AM
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Jay Mathews has an interesting request :
So I have asked Gardner to help me, and him, become more familiar
with this new opinion delivery system by joining me in a blog-judging
contest. I hope readers will e-mail me at mathewsj@washpost.com and Gardner at walt.gard@verizon.net
the links to their favorite education blogs -- no more than five per
reader, please, and I would love you to rank them in your order of
preference. Gardner and I will look them over and reveal our favorites
in a future column. He and I have different views on some key issues
and different tastes in writing styles, so entries should not be at any
disadvantage no matter what their slant or tone.
In other words, help drag two old guys into the 21st century, where I hear there is much to learn.
Please read the column -- there's a delightful story there -- and then send Matthews your suggestions. Thanks to Stephen for the link.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Edublog Awards
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/16/2006 08:26:49 AM
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The 2006 Edublog Awards are now open for nominations. If you're into such things, go ahead and send in a nomination or two.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: WiFi at 40,000 Feet
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 11/15/2006 09:16:07 AM
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I'm not sure if I agree with Paul Allison's statement that maybe there's a new discipline lurking in the work that we're engaged in online:
Like composition teachers at the 1966 conference at Dartmouth College, like social studies
teachers carving out a unique discipline alongside history and
sociology–”the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities
to promote civic competence”– perhaps those of us using digital
photography, podcasts, Google maps, webcasts, wikis, video, del.icio.us, tags, blogs, Bloglines, Google Reader, online
word processors, digital stories and poetry, and other Web 2.0
technologies need our own department, our own discipline, our own field
of study. Perhaps we need our own interdisciplinary inquiry out of
which to build curriculum and to reorganize the subjects that are
taught in secondary schools. “Web Studies” would address new literacies that are not presently being taught in the traditional, core subjects. Web Studies needs to become more central in schools.
I'm not able to simply dismiss the idea, either. It's an honest question, but I'm not sure that the best answer to all of the change that we're facing is to splinter off in a new direction. I'd like to join the webcast where he and the rest of the Teachers Teaching Teachers gang will be discussing the issue of a new discipline. But I'll be in an airplane, headed for Nashville. What's an hour or so of AirPhone time running for these days? Someone want to loan me a credit card?
Go and participate in the show for me, okay?
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AUTHOR: Scott S. Floyd
EMAIL: floyds@whiteoak.esc7.net
IP: 65.201.110.163
URL: http://www.txbluebonnetwp.org/bluebonnet/Blog/Blog.html
DATE: 11/17/2006 03:03:08 PM
I'm with you. After 72 flight cancellations in DFW, I ended up on a plane to Nashville smack dab in the middle of a David Warlick presentation online I had signed up for. Bummer. Maybe next time. Thanks for the great presentation. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the WP site.
By the way, I loved the end of your blog post on the k12online conference blog. The semi-colon finally gets the respect and attention it deserves.
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AUTHOR: Deanna
EMAIL: 19drea85@comcast.net
IP: 129.82.186.223
URL: http://deemaeinsight.blogspot.com/index.html
DATE: 11/15/2006 02:03:57 PM
very, very interesting. As a education student, we are constantly discussing whether or not to embrace technology in the classroom. As teachers, if we ban technology, we will become an enemy to our students who live for computers but how much is too much?!?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Codes & Cyphers
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: ARG's
DATE: 11/14/2006 03:10:02 PM
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I'm on an ARG kick right now, based largely on the success that I've found with a couple of students and Cathy's Book. We've really enjoyed puzzling our way through that book. Puzzles, the literacy of ARG's, are tricky for me, but lots of fun. We took a look at this great cypher tutorial (free registration required) today, checking out some cyphers, one of the more common types of ARG puzzles. One of my students created her own. Want to take a stab at solving it?
Here's a hint: We won't fib you, to solve this puzzle, skip forward twice, and then walk backwards from there.
233 - 987 - 30368 - 28657, 59025 - 233 - 987 - 13 - 610 - 89393 - 4181 - 377 - 28657, 4181 - 34, 21 - 6765 - 28657, 89393 - 28657 - 34 - 21
Good luck! First one to solve it correctly wins a free one year subscription to this blog. Post your answers in the comments.
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AUTHOR: Nancy
EMAIL: nbosch@aol.com
IP: 152.163.100.204
URL: http://adifferentplace.org
DATE: 11/15/2006 06:32:11 PM
I teach gifted kids (K-6) and have started using literature as jumping off points for curriculum. We've read some great books in the last three years and I've love this new addition after 20 years in the classroom. Both Cathy's Book and CypherStudio look really intriguing but I don't think the content would be appropriate for my younger kids. Have you heard of other books like Cathy's for younger readers? It kinda reminds me of Treasure Trove and The Alchemist of Dar. Thanks
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Good Night for a Poem
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Poetry
DATE: 11/13/2006 09:28:10 PM
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I was catching up on some poetry reading tonight. Glad I did . Here's an excerpt:
an image of a moment in time so singular
that only words will serve
to etch it forever
on the patterns of my memory
to provide some comfort
when I am old
to give testimony to the painful beauty
that was my life
that is the experience of being human
I love Megan's poetry. You've got to read the whole thing to get it, though.
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AUTHOR: Mark Hannigan
EMAIL: m_hannigan@geospot.com
IP: 65.98.179.194
URL:
DATE: 11/14/2006 06:56:46 PM
ya, that poem is pretty moving, I think I have read those lines before.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Gearing Up
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/13/2006 04:09:46 PM
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This week marks both the NWP Annual Meeting and the NCTE Annual Convention. I'll be at both -- since they're both in Nashville and at the same time. I'll be presenting at both, too, which means it's going to be a busy week.
Whew. Good thing I went and got sick last week instead of this one. Anyone else presenting in Nashville? Want to plug your session? Leave a comment.
UPDATE: Oops -- forgot to plug my sessions. I'll be presenting on Friday at 2:30pm with Bill Bass and Greg Van Nest. Our session's called "The Compleatly (sic) Connected Teacher: Blogs and Related Technology for the 21st Century Teacher." Here's the wiki. Then, I'm racing across town to join Troy Hicks for an NWP session called "The Social Web: building Interactivity Into Our Sites' Websites." (Don't you just love the academic colon?)
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AUTHOR: Jeff
EMAIL: jcwasserman@gmail.com
IP: 167.206.78.2
URL: http://jwasserman.edublogs.org
DATE: 11/14/2006 07:04:52 AM
Looking forward to the NWP session!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Shamburg
EMAIL: cshamburg@ggmmaaiill.com
IP: 68.45.44.126
URL:
DATE: 11/13/2006 07:20:50 PM
Bud,
When are your presenting at NCTE? I'll be there Thursday and Friday. I'm presenting 9:30 am to 10:45 am 11/17/2006 DIGITAL SHAKESPEARE: THERE'S MAGIC IN THE WEB.
I'm with a few other people--veterans of the Folger Shakespeare Library's Teaching Shakespeare Institute/Shakespeare Set Free Book Series. It's technology and performance techniques.
When and what are you presenting on?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Night Soon Falls
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 11/03/2006 03:46:11 PM
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Night is about to fall on the end of the first K12 Online Conference -- and they're going out in style, with a 24-hour webcast, broken up into one or two hour sessions hosted by folks all over the world. Things get underway at 12:00 GMT, which is 5:00PM Mountain Time. Head on over to the website to figure out where to go and whom to join. I hope to drop in when I can -- perhaps I'll "see" you there?
If not, remember that as the conference ends, that means a year of regularly scheduled online conversation until the next one gets going. I've still got at least a week of conference presentations from this year to get through -- wow. Lots of good stuff.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Selling. Something. to Someone.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Games
DATE: 10/30/2006 04:29:32 PM
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I guess it'd be a good thing if I slapped together a few of my best posts and put them on a page for teachers. Then, I'd probably let everyone know that I've created a great new resource for teachers, one with an exclusive newsletter and very special stuff, stuff that I've collected from other places and put here, in this one special place. Then, I could spend some money on teachers and bring them together to look at all the stuff that I created relabeled just for them. They'd probably go nuts about that. You know how we teachers like free stuff.
That'd be pretty cool, huh?
Seriously, though. There's always someone trying to make a dollar off of a teacher or a classroom. Sometimes that's an okay thing, because they've got a product that helps me do something that I want to do. Other times, that's no good, because they're poor salespeople -- they want to sell me something that I don't really need, or won't actually do something for the benefit of my students.
Google, like lots of other vendors and merchants and innovative-type folks, has created some amazing stuff, and hopefully, will be involved in fascinatingly complex innovations in the future.
But just because they've slapped "for teachers" on their cool stuff doesn't suddenly mean that they've created vast new resources that will help me, or anyone else, do our jobs better. What they've actually done, or so it seems to me, is that they've "given permission" for people to start using those tools in the classroom.
We shouldn't need permission. We shouldn't be so locked into paradigms and routines that when something interesting, fascinating, or just downright useful come along, we wait until we're told it's "okay" to use that tool in our schools.
I'm hopeful, though, that the creation of Google for Educators can eventually lead to a meaningful conversation about how business can help teachers in mutually beneficial ways. The folks at Discovery Education, when they're not flinging book bags and projectors at teachers, are doing some interesting and meaningful work. I don't mean to pick on these two companies, or set them up as diametrically opposed. Both have potential, both are selling products. There are other corporate partnerships that work, too. Plenty that don't.
Maybe Google for Educators is the next big thing. I just haven't seen it yet.
PS -- Bill and Will, aside from rhyming, are two smart folks who aren't waiting for permission from anyone. Their conversation about open source vs. corporate creation is wrapped up in my still cold-riddled brain as I think about this topic.
I just couldn't figure out a witty way to work them into this post. I'm also thinking of this comment, which I will address as the cold begins to give up brain control:
I checked out your link to I Love
Bees. Have you ever read the book Born to Buy by Juliet Schor. Schor
discusses these marketing campaigns to children which I found
troubling. The wiki you provided said I Love Bees was part of a viral
marketing campaign for Halo 2.
What's Cathy's Book trying to sell?
The short answer to Keri's question is CoverGirl. The longer answer is whether or not corporate sponsorship that leads to an interesting opportunity for learning is always a bad thing. The book and some clever, or highly concerning, depending on your personal opinion, has started a bit of a conversation about product placement in books. A better question is are they really selling us anything at all? Does placing a product in a book make a meaningful marketing difference? Does having a corporate connection necessarily make for a "dirty" experience, one that isn't as good or pure or righteous or holy as one that would involve an open source tool? I don't mean to trivialize the question -- it's a really important one that has implications for Google for Educators just as much as it does for any other corporate connection to an educational initiative or vice versa.
I don't know the answers yet, but I intend to speak with my students about it when we meet for book club tomorrow.
This is definitely first draft thinking. Be gentle.
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AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.190.109
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com/
DATE: 10/31/2006 01:08:15 PM
I was going to comment here, but I rambled on for so long (my lunch period and then some), I made it a blog entry of my own instead.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 69.209.127.235
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 10/30/2006 07:30:10 PM
I'm confused Bud. Are you implying that there are thousands of educators our there that haven't been using Google's tools and applications because they weren't sure if they were legal? I've never been one to hold back on the use of ANY free tool in my classroom, but I have heard that some conference presentations and resources on Google Earth have been questioned as to their legality before being proved it was okay to use in an educational setting.
As for your complaint about the "relabeling" of resources, I'm with you on the commercial aspect of it. I really despise websites that simply categorize and sort websites, then make you pay for them. Granted, there are many sites that only ask for donations to provide advertisement free versions (enchanted learning), but some sites that simply replicate other content that can be found elsewhere on the web for free (brainpop) makes you wonder.
As for Google, even if what they've labeled as "for teachers" isn't exactly geared towards teachers, they've been doing it all for free (well, you do have to view those tiny Google Ads on the sidebar), and are attempting to show educators that the Google Earth forums and other tools they have aren't just for the techie-minded crowd. Google Docs (formerly Google Spreadsheets and Wordly) are some powerful tools for online collaboration, and as far as I know, I'm the only one in my school (besides the IT people) that knows about the tools. Perhaps by simply adding the words "for educators" may start to help more teachers open their eyes with what's possible .
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Friday Night Twilight
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: ARG's
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Cell Phones
CATEGORY: Games
CATEGORY: Science
CATEGORY: Storytelling
DATE: 10/27/2006 09:52:45 PM
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I've had a cold all week that's been slowly taking away my ability to think and to communicate at the same time. I've been striking back as best as I can, but last night, after the very enjoyable fireside chat session with the K12 Online folks, the cold won the battle.
I caved and took some cold medicine. Now, irony of ironies, I can't sleep, as all of the thinking I was trying to do today was sort of backed up in my brain until now, so I'm learning instead. So long as there's no talking, I think my brain can keep up with my typing. Maybe.
Thanks to Rick, I spent some time this evening at YouTube. Here's a video that pretty much matches our reaction to finding Cathy's Book on the bookshelf.
Sean Stewart, one of the authors of Cathy's Book, has an essay on ARG's posted at his website on ARG's. Since he's been involved with the artform/genre/mindtrip since the beginning of the artform, I think he counts as an expert. You should definitely read in its entirety, particularly if you think gaming has a place in schools.
This is a little jumbled, I know, between the cold medicine and the excited synapses going off and fighting for control of my intellect. Forgive me. There's lots of synthesis to do between Stewart's words and lots of the great conversations going on about how to tell a new story in school. This might be one of those ways to teach the new story in schools -- or I'm mixing my metaphors. Either way, I blame the virus.
On the idea of ARG's not being a new experience, Stewart writes:
By the way, I do NOT assert that the Beast was the first, or greatest,
example of massively multi-player collaborative investigation and
problem solving. Science, as a social activity promoted by the Royal
Society of Newton's day and persisting to this moment, has a long head
start and a damn fine track record. Not to mention more profound
investigations and way more scandalous gossip.
We just accidentally re-invented Science as pop culture entertainment.
Can you imagine the classroom power of reinventing our content as pop culture entertainment? Sure, there's some dangerous ground there -- but plenty of potential in there too.
Feels like the cold's taking over again -- off to rest. And read. Before I go, though, I'm curious -- how many of you actually dialed the number on the cover (650-266-8233)? What was your reaction?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Have You Seen Cathy's Book?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Cell Phones
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Games
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 10/27/2006 03:48:22 PM
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I'm teaching a book club class in the afternoons for students who want to take their independent reading a little further. We meet twice a week, discuss their reading and generally do book clubbish things, such as share ideas, questions, and, occasionally, chocolate. There are only two students in the class at the moment, and we've been together for nine weeks, so we're starting to get used to each other as readers and thinkers.
We pick the books that we're reading together, and so it was a pretty normal day when we arrived at a local book store to pick out our next text, as well as some new books for the library that I had ordered.
Of course, the book we had selected wasn't in. But we found something else.
A student handed me a black, hard cover book, with the words "Cathy's Book: If found call (650) 266-8233" written with what appeared to be silver marker on the cover. She asked me what I thought. On a hunch, I asked her if she had her cell phone with her. She pulled it from her pocket, at which point I instructed her to dial the number.
She was nervous about that, so she asked me to instead.
I'm going to interrupt this narrative to ask you to dial that number, so long as it's reasonably cost-effective for you to do so. If you've a Skype account, it's probably a free call for you at the moment -- go ahead and dial. I'll wait.
From the moment we heard that message, we were curious. Then, we opened the book. Alongside a pretty standard looking book was a pouch full of documents and other stuff: ripped up photographs, a menu, some old letters, and some other odd items. We shared the find with the other student in the class, dialed the number for her, she took a listen, and we headed to the register with our new read in hand.
This is an interesting book.
Written by one of the creators of I Love Bees, an early incarnation of an ARG (alternate reality game), Cathy's Book is a puzzle wrapped inside a book and scattered around lots of voice mail boxes, collections of documents, websites, and . . . well, we're not sure what else yet. We just know it's addictive and contagious. At least one other student here at school is waiting to read the book, and we're all reading voraciously; we even met up today during lunch to check in on the progress that we've each made. (All of us had discovered different clues that allowed us to access various hidden puzzles. We needed each other to make the picture begin to be complete. VERY COOL.)
I like the idea of a novel that uses a narrative that exists in lots of places. I've written about this before, but I really, really think there's potential in these types of stories, stories where we have to access different types of information and begin to make sense of what's real, what's relevant, and what's important to the story.
After only a day of reading Cathy's Book, I'm hooked, as are my students. The only problem I see with that excitement is that in a week or two, we're going to need another book that engages us in this way.
Got any ideas?
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AUTHOR: Amanda
EMAIL: mannaerickson2@hotmail.com
IP: 75.105.128.57
URL: http://www.myspace.com/mannale2
DATE: 10/08/2007 07:49:37 PM
I just started reading Cathy's book a couple of days ago. I googled it just now and read your article and called the number, I never thought that would acctually be real. And all the "evidence" inside. It just amazes me how far out they went with this book. I am very interested. I think more books should be this way!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Keith Bergstrom
EMAIL: keith@prestwickhouse.com
IP: 76.111.133.44
URL: http://prestwickhouse.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/20/2007 09:53:17 PM
Excellent to see a teacher working through this with his students! A colleague of yours recommended I check out your page after I posted a brief review of Cathy's Book on our blog. I hope you don't mind if I link to you.
Not quite as engaging, but almost as interesting, I've been reading the second "book" in the E-mail mysteries. The story is told through E-mails sent in "real time" to your E-mail inbox. I enjoyed the first one, Daughters of Freya, but the second one, Suzanne, isn't as good. Anyway, it's a fun concept.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 11/29/2006 08:58:31 PM
My students are high school, and older high school students at that. I don't think I'd read Cathy's Book with 6th graders, either, but it would depend on the 6th graders.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: J.D.
EMAIL: jwilliams@gesd40.org
IP: 68.108.222.86
URL: http://mrwilliams.edublogs.org
DATE: 11/29/2006 08:48:32 PM
What age of students are in your book club? I teach 6th grade, picked up this book and read it after seeing your blog post. I'm not sure if I should put it in my classroom or not. I know that there isn't anything in there that isn't on prime time tv, but I think I would only give the book to some of my higher students (reading and mature wise) after informing their parents about the book.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: zombyboy
EMAIL:
IP: 70.90.112.250
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/zombyboy/
DATE: 10/30/2006 11:35:09 AM
Sean Stewart is a wonderful author--although I'm not sure I would recommend all of his stuff to younger readers. His book Nobody's Son tackles the fantasy genre by exploring what happens after "happily ever after" and might be a good one for younger readers. It's funny, touching, fun, compelling.
Better books for more advanced readers--and, honestly, older readers--A Perfect Circle, Galveston, and Mockingbird. Just brilliant stuff. Unfortunately, some of those might be out of print. A Perfect Circle, in particular, caught my attention. It's a ghost story, a midlife crisis, and an introduction to great indy music all in one wonderfully crafted book.
I think that Stewart and Weisman are simply trying to apply the same viral ideas that they used in their online game/story/things to the literary world. The only thing they're trying to sell is books (although they did go in for a bit of paid product placement, which has turned out to be a little controversial.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Keri
EMAIL: krfxv3@mizzou.edu
IP: 75.15.161.26
URL: http://writingtoteach.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/29/2006 06:50:58 PM
I checked out your link to I Love Bees. Have you ever read the book Born to Buy by Juliet Schor. Schor discusses these marketing campaigns to children which I found troubling. The wiki you provided said I Love Bees was part of a viral marketing campaign for Halo 2.
What's Cathy's Book trying to sell?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: rick
EMAIL: rickjoycehk@hotmail.com
IP: 71.248.192.157
URL:
DATE: 10/27/2006 06:57:34 PM
have you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHn4XB4tLH8
or this?
www.myspace.com/cathy_vickers?
i n t e r e s t i n g
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: K12 is Online
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 10/23/2006 03:32:00 PM
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The K12 Online Conference kicked off this morning, my keynote included. Lots to see, write, explore and discuss. Hope to "see" you there, especially at the Fireside chat on Thursday, 5pm Mountain time.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Please Welcome
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Preservice Teachers
CATEGORY: Professional Development
DATE: 10/21/2006 11:33:26 AM
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I've been following a group of preservice teachers as they begin to explore both blogging and teaching. I wonder if you might be willing to hop over and give them a hearty welcome comment or two. I think they're beginning to ask some pretty interesting questions for a project they're working on. You can find the group via their teacher's blog. Look to the sidebar on the right side for the university students' blogs.
Sheryl has her preservice teachers' blogs all glu'd up. Alex Reid is blogging with preservice folks, too. Any others? I like following new teachers' thoughts and questions -- both because of the New Voices column I edit for English Journal, and because I constantly fear falling into a rut of poor quality thinking.
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AUTHOR: Mary Lee
EMAIL: mlhahn@mac.com
IP: 69.223.185.181
URL: http://readingyear.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/22/2006 05:55:41 PM
...column you edit for ENGLISH JOURNAL? Does this mean we might be able to meet you in person in Nashville at NCTE??!?!
Hope so,
Mary Lee and Franki at A Year of Reading
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: MacArthur and A Little Cash
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 10/21/2006 11:01:46 AM
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I received a press release in my e-mail on Thursday night, but I ignored it until yesterday. Here 'tis:
On behalf of the MacArthur Foundation initiative
on digital
media and learning, we invite you, your colleagues, and your students
to join
us in two online forums which will run from Monday, October 23 through
Friday,
Nov. 3rd.
The MacArthur Foundation seeks to create networks
of
interested scholars and practitioners as they move toward a substantial
investment in the area of digital media and learning. Our specific
working
group is identifying consequences of digital media use that might be
unanticipated or unexpected, which we will examine in-depth in a book
of essays
to be completed next year.
We are undertaking two online discussions over the
next two
weeks. The first seeks to explore the
possibilities and limits of using digital media in the K-12 classroom
by
engaging with teachers who face such questions every day, particularly
since
this group is a significant stakeholder in the issue of digital media
and
learning. The conversation is framed
around three questions:
1. “If you were free to use digital media to teach
in any
way you wanted, how would you use it?”
2. “What currently limits your use of digital media in the classroom?”
3. “What has surprised you about you students' digital media use?"
The second forum is designed to encourage youth to
respond
to ideas being formulated by our researchers. If possible, we’d love to hear from your students.
Responses generated through these forums will
enrich our
research and may be included in our published volume and in other
MacArthur
materials.
To join us, please go to one of our online
discussion forums
at:
For Teachers: http://community.macfound.org/openforum?go=z1082179
For Youth: http://community.macfound.org/openforum?go=z1082180
The first time you visit the site, you’ll need to create
a user name and password (simply click on “Join”); once you register,
you’ll be
directed to one of the forums.
Further background: The
John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recently announced plans to
build the emerging
field of digital media and learning, committing $50 million over five
years to
the effort. The Foundation will fund
research and innovative projects focused on understanding the impact of
the
widespread use of digital media on our youth and how they learn. See www.macfound.org/digital
for more information.
Please
circulate and/or blog this information as you see fit, with
apologies for any cross-postings, and don't hesitate to contact me
should you have questions.
All best,
Tara McPherson
Editor, volume on Innovative Uses & Unexpected Consequences
Associate Professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts
Any time folks ask my students to participate in questions that might come back to directly affect them, I'm interested. The timing on these fora (or it is forums) is also perfect -- they'll be running concurrently with the K12 Online Conference. This MacArthur initiative is very, very interesting, although a bit confusing to navigate via their collection of sites and whatnot. I'm trying to understand the implications, but I don't. Yet. (I did, however, discover this interesting Spotlight blog. Some pretty smart folks writing there, even if I don't yet grasp why.)
Tom makes some good suggestions about aims for educators in this endeavor:
I would propose that it should be our goal to extract two things from this initiative:
- That future grant cycles include some teacher-initiated projects,
with the initiative providing development and research support;
- That those projects release any code written under an open source license.
He even offers to help write some software with folks. I think I'll definitely need to pay attention to the MacArthur initiative, even though I don't yet understand what it all means. Five years and fifty million seems, well, like there might be plenty of opportunities for good things to happen.
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AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 64.223.55.77
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 10/21/2006 05:38:07 PM
Hmm... interesting that you're the first person who has copped to being contacted by these folks. This morning I was thinking, "who would be the best person to make a proposal on this project," and your name was on the top of my list.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Bill Moyers on Net Neutrality
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Television
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 10/19/2006 11:20:46 PM
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I haven't watched it yet, and I'm not sure when/if I will, but I thought I'd pass on that Bill Moyers did a PBS special on Wednesday night about net neutrality. It's part of a larger series on modern citizenship that looks downright interesting. All of the series, like other PBS programs, is available online for viewing via stream.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Podcast: Asking Questions About the K12Online Conference
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 10/19/2006 10:32:50 PM
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Had a "first draft thinking" conversation with Dave Cormier yesterday about some of the side conversation/question/criticism around the K12Online Conference. Specifically, we were discussing a recent post by Stephen Downes, as well as some of our own concerns/questions/observations about the conference. Since our recording, Stephen has further elaborated on his remarks.
The goal of the conversation was to honestly hash out some of those thoughts. It's certainly my hope that the discussion both about the conference and how to conference continues in a productive and useful manner.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Janice Friesen
EMAIL: janicef@jfriesen.net
IP: 71.145.194.102
URL: http://malahinitx.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/31/2006 03:27:46 PM
I just listened to the podcast and I just want to say that I think that giving graduate credit is a way of SCAFFOLDING this learning for many teachers. They need that scaffolding to take their first steps. It is not BAD extrinsic motivation.
Also, I think that it is a great professional development experiment. All of us will be learning from each other in an organic way. Who cares who gets credit or who is paid or not paid or asked to speak at a conference or consult? That is not the point for most people who are involved and I think that if that is someone's reason for participating then we will see it and avoid them OR we can all benefit anyway from what they are doing.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Quentin D'Souza
EMAIL: qdsouza@gmail.com
IP: 209.161.225.46
URL: http://www.teachinghacks.com
DATE: 10/26/2006 10:43:04 PM
IMHO - Talk about sure - dwell on - not really. I hope we still base our judgements on facts rather than conjecture.
I'm not a newbie, but I'm still learning, and that is what any professional development is about. And I didn't have to travel across the globe to get it.
heh - what do I know anyway?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 71.34.138.194
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 10/21/2006 11:46:59 AM
Well . . .yeah. I agree with much of what you write here -- and I think I said as much in the podcast. I intend to fully embrace the conference, never didn't, and to thank all of those who are putting it on. Repeatedly. I'll learn as much as I can and meet lots of really interesting folks along the way. This has never been for me a question of "good" or "bad," but I'll certainly say, "K12Online is a good thing." I do think, though, some of the philosophical issues raised here are worth thinking and talking about.
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AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/20/2006 10:05:54 PM
So much to say, so little time. As you know, I'm still relatively new at this, so my perspective is maybe still as a "newbie" - which is both good and bad. So here goes.
The conference is "a good thing." Period. Is it perfect? Probably not, but so what? I see it as good content that is going to be easily shared with a wider audience. Yes, each of the presenters - as well as others - can publish in their own space, but the reality is that the vast majority of teachers will never visit their space. I think it's ironic that Stephen Downes - a member of the "elite" edubloggers - is taking other "elite" edubloggers to task for trying to share ideas with others. It seems like you all are forgetting how small this sphere currently is. Shouldn't we be trying to grow the community, to expose more teachers to these ideas? Sure, it may not be "pure" enough for the elite, but let's get practical here - Stephen's blog isn't ever going to directly impact most K-12 teachers - he's just not that approachable for most. That's not to say that he doesn't have great ideas, but most teachers will never pay attention to them. But they might pay attention to others that package those ideas in a different form - like the K12 Online Conference. And, to be practical again, do any of these critics realize how rare it is for most teachers to attend any conference? I think some of these folks have forgotten the realities of most teacher's lives.
Why is it bad to become more visible? For that matter, if a few of the "consultants" involved in this did end up benefitting from this, who cares? I don't care if they profit, as long as I - and others - learn from the experience (and, to be clear, I don't really think that was anyone's intent).
I think this conference is going to make the content much more approachable for a wider audience. Yes, it might be more "pure" (yes, I'm using that word again) to have them all post in their own space and then aggregate it together, but then we would most likely end up with too much content and the audience would be overwhelmed and not pay attention to it (which is what is happening right now). And, of course, I think some of you guys are missing the point again - how many other "voices" would be missed because they don't have the knowledge of how to get included in that aggregation? I think some folks have lost sight of the barriers that prevent most teachers from joining the community. Just because we find it easy (now) to use these tools, doesn't mean that everyone does (or will).
I also think that this conference is inclusive - inclusive in the sense of the audience. Yes, by screening the presentations the organizers did exclude some folks. (But again, for the "pure" folks, there's still nothing to stop all those excluded from posting to post in their own space, what the "pure" folks are asking for in the first place.) But what they are accomplishing is growing the audience by making the content approachable. The conference itself will "help people get started" - most don't really know how to do this (or don't have the confidence). In my opinion, the "elite" are not the audience for this conference. Many will be the initial consumers and participators - but then will help spread the word to the wider audience. Assuming the sessions are as good as I think they'll be, I'll be using them as part of my staff development. If that's not good enough for some folks, then they are welcome to either come provide free staff development for my staff, or pay my staff's way to some conferences that meet with those folks' approval.
I also think the conference will be a success because of the thinking it causes the presenters to do. Yes, we all think when we blog. But I would guess there's another level of thinking that goes into creating these presentations. And that will help the presenters' own learning, which will eventually help all of us. Bud, don't you think the questions you've been trying to answer (like about "who's your audience") as you create your presentation has helped your own thinking about all this stuff? And won't that in turn inform your future posts - which helps all of us learn? And, by the way, won't that help your students?
As Dave said, I think the "community" will decide. If nobody likes it, it will go away. But if they do find value in it, will Stephen and others acknowledge that - or are they "smarter" than the community?
Okay, enough (probably too much). The questions that are being raised are worth thinking about, and the conference undoubtedly can be tweaked and improved. But how about we do our best to learn from the conference, to share what we learn from the conference with others, to try to use the conference to grow the community, to celebrate the great work that is being done, and to make the next iteration of the conference (should there be one) even better. And how about we take all that we learn and go out and do some good work with our students.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Time Capsules
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Storytelling
DATE: 10/18/2006 11:08:43 PM
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Ever since Gilgamesh, we mere mortal humans have been trying to write ourselves into immortality. One of the latest attempts is Yahoo's digital time capsule:
Like everything Yahoo! does, it’s about you – our amazing users. We
think there’s no one better suited to teach future generations what the
world was like in 2006. For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8,
Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio –
even drawings – to this electronic anthropology project. This digital
data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.
In
addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read, or hear
the images, words, and sounds contributed by users from around the
world.
The "capsule" is visually stunning and easy to navigate. It's also quite addictive, in a curious sort of way. Arranged by category, there are some posts that are begging for the "rest of the story." Like this one, from the category of hope:
my wish is to see and hug my daughter Lynda grace Key one last time befor I die, because I have been sick and I am so scared I will die befor I ever get to see her again, and I just want to tell her I love her and give her the biggest hug ever.
Or this, from a teenager:
I'm 17 and I live in Oroville, CA. Wow, automatically that makes me look like I have nothing to say so let's just pretend that I said I am 48 and live in Boston mmkay? Haha, kidding. So being a teenager in 2006 is...damn hard. Adults don't realize what we go through and no, I'm not talking about "peer pressure" or whatever other annoying terms they like to throw out. I have 6 college-level classes a day and then applying to college...worrying about every detail of hair, body, skin....scholarships...And then all that "why can't he like me?" stuff. Ya know what I mean. It's hard. Harder than it was for current adults. I hope when we, and our children, are adults we can raise you, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, while remembering what it's like to be you. It'll probably be even harder for you. But hey, at least you'll probably have worldwide wireless internet by then so you'll live. :)
I think I could get lost in this capsule. I wonder what the reaction will be in a short twenty years or so. I wonder, too, if I'll have anything to contribute. What might you want the world of the near future to know/see/experience/remember?
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AUTHOR: Lynda Grace Key
EMAIL: survivalwoman@gmail.com
IP: 65.31.200.112
URL: http://xanga.com/adair
DATE: 03/16/2008 07:26:38 AM
" my wish is to see and hug my daughter Lynda grace Key one last time befor I die, because I have been sick and I am so scared I will die befor I ever get to see her again, and I just want to tell her I love her and give her the biggest hug ever." write herself into history as a person she really isnt , the woman who wrote this so called peice of hope is lying , coniveing and heartless woman who wants to make herself look better. In all honestly. She's not dying , and being her daughter i wouldnt want to be in the same state with her much less a hug from her.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: "Blogging Image Scavenger Hunt"
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 10/17/2006 04:01:00 PM
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Here's an interesting blog writing activity:
To me, this high level of diverse thought is a direct challenge. It is
a test to see how well we can hold together such fantastic ideas while
all the while knitting closer together this community of writers. So, I
put it to you. Can you find and put the following images together in
one of your own authentic posts and link to all of the images that you
have found to be useful? If you are the first person to post their
scavenger hunt weekly authentic with correct links to each of the
written images that you find, you will have the choice to drop any
missing assignment you like, take home any book that you like from my
bookshelf, or get a gift certificate for a pizza from anywhere you
like. There will be five other prizes for the best scavenger hunt
entries, so don’t feel like you have to rush through. Also, I would
encourage everyone to comment on the posts that they find throughout
this process, just to show the writers how much you appreciate their
contributions to our community.
A brief excerpt, but maybe you get the idea. Really cool, for several reasons. There's an incorporation of past work, encouragement for students to examine each others' blogs, as well as a challenging creative writing task. Head over and check out the sample as well as to see what folks come up with.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blog/Comp Map
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Weblogs
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 10/16/2006 09:48:07 PM
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This diagram of how blogging and composition are interconnected/related makes my brain hurt. (In a good way. )
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/17/2006 02:54:15 PM
Thanks for the link! It is pretty cool -- But now I have to sit down and really try to digest it all! I can feel my head starting to hurt, too!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Poetic
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Poetry
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 10/16/2006 08:32:16 PM
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. . . this world is a very, very complex, difficult place where great joy and
great pain live side by side. And that the only way we can make it
better is to not turn away.
Well said, Will.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: And so it begins . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 10/16/2006 04:11:59 PM
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I'm sitting here at my desk at work listening to the opening Fireside Chat of the first K12 Online Conference. I've never attended a live Elluminate session before -- and I can simply say that I'm blown away. We're talking to and with the world. After all the podcasts and webcasts and blogging and wikis and connections with others, I'm always struck by just how powerful and amazing these connections are.
Wow. Just wow.
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AUTHOR: Cathy Nelson
EMAIL: cnelson@rock-hill.k12.sc.us
IP: 208.104.215.247
URL: http://nseslibrary.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/16/2006 05:57:30 PM
I am so frustrated that my ISP had a major hiccup, and I lost connectivity right after introducing myself. I was FURIOUS! I had even insisted at home to have the whole 6:00 hour free (we ate dinner at 5:00 Just so I'd be free for the chat...)only to be hugely let down by my ISP. RATS! I'm sure it was wonderful.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jennifer
EMAIL: jlw@technospud.com
IP: 69.231.250.229
URL: http://www.onlineprojects4teachers.com/wordpress/
DATE: 10/16/2006 05:51:55 PM
Wasn't it just wonderful!!
Lots and lots of good conversations!!
Jennifer
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Matt
EMAIL: mjclausen@gmail.com
IP: 69.144.3.3
URL: http://blogschools.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/16/2006 05:12:25 PM
I had never attended a live Elluminate session, either. What an amazing tool for building connections - the possibilities just for foreign language classes...These next two weeks are very promising!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Network, Not Group Work
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 10/10/2006 10:08:42 PM
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While I've been moving to the notion for some time now that what I should be doing as a teacher is to help individuals work their way into learning networks, I certainly haven't been thinking so in isolation. One person that's really, really helped me to clarify my thinking on the matter, as well as to help me rediscover some of the passion that's been missing from my work in the last couple of weeks, is Stephen Downes. His podcast from his recent excursions into New Zealand has really been useful. Defniitely worth a listen, maybe at least two. I'll probably be returning to that piece of audio a few more times. I dig his passion. Lots.
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AUTHOR: Kevin Landry
EMAIL: lklandry@gmail.com
IP: 221.145.199.57
URL:
DATE: 10/28/2006 08:48:09 AM
Andy Curtis would be a great person to get involved with. I jsut heard him speak at KOTESOL and it sounds like he really wants to bring teachers together. I think if the right technology guys gave him a hand he'd really help non profit education get off the ground.
Check out his paper on Cost benefit analysis.
http://www.andycurtis.org/
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Pass
EMAIL: ap@Pass-Ed.com
IP: 70.212.0.241
URL: http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
DATE: 10/15/2006 07:05:13 PM
Bud, What I don't understand is why this concept of learning community is still so foreign to so many teachers. Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to speak with a few teachers about using palms in their classrooms and they said that the risk of cheating was too great. I responded, why do we think of it as cheating instead of collaboration? Why? Collaboration and participation in learning communities is so important to the development of sustained capacity and we are missing such an important opporutnity in schools to help students learn how to do this. Thanks for your post.
Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Lots More Voices
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 10/10/2006 09:43:24 PM
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While I'm watching the progress indicator ("Only five more minutes" for only half an hour an hour a really long time now -- installing software is like going on a road trip with my dad.) move ever onward towards the moment where I discover if I've managed to save my data, I'm taking a few minutes to scan some of the new blogs from my friends, teachers, and colleagues that I've been involved with over the last few weeks.
Here's Donna, CSUWP teacher-consultant, my colleague and the other half of my school's language arts department:
I'm wondering how teachers stay excited all the time. I know there's so
much to learn but here I am in my classroom again. Talking memoir or
study habits and maybe I'm just disheartened because a kid who touched
my soul has somehow decided she should drop out.
Here's Jason, a long-time collaborator and teacher in the CSUWP:
I so often pose questions to my students that either I don't know the
answer to or choose not to share. An example of this is "The Mystery
Cube", a well-known Nature of Science activity that I've put my own
spin on to help teach Atomic Theory. It involves a cube with language
and symbols on each side. Their role is to then figure out, based on
logic and data collection, what the bottom of the cube says. I never
actually tell them if they are correct. Funny thing is... I have kids
that will approach me THREE years later and ask me to tell them what
was on the bottom of the cube. After a lesson that is based in thinking
critically, sharing data, and scientific community, why is that
students can not let go of the verfication they so desperately need
from their teachers. Frustration is a beautiful tool, especially in a
science classroom, primarily because it is so real.
Here's Cindy, the CSUWP director and my teacher of so many subjects over the last eight years or so:
My reason for establishing this new blog is connected to my conviction
that I should be practicing the same professional habits I'm asking of
my students. In the process of doing so, I'm hoping that we can learn
from and with one another and that their increasingly insightful ideas
can move beyond our classroom to be shared with whoever else cares to
read them.
There are so many other good, rich, interesting voices emerging all over the place right now. Everyone that I've seen honestly and openly approach blogging has added something rich and vital to the conversation.
Of course, I'm both excited and scared to death about the development of more and more online conversation. In the end, I am so selfishly glad to have these voices to plug into my learning network, but on the other hand, as more and more people come to the blogging party, it'll become more and more difficult to stay on top of it all.
Of course, being able to include the other teachers in my area in these conversations is a downright fantastic feeling -- imagine how interesting things will get when teachers might be required reading for each other, when we can finally peer into the classrooms and the minds of passionate people that are just down the hall or the street from us, but that we never "have time" to see teach or to engage in conversation with.
Can you imagine the strength in those connections? Now add our students into the mix, writing and thinking and learning from and with each other.
Sounds too good to ever be allowed to happen, doesn't it? Allow me some hope tonight. I know that connectedness and writing don't solve all the problems of the world.
But they're both a good first step.
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AUTHOR: Cindy
EMAIL: cindyoa@lamar.colostate.edu
IP: 129.82.187.247
URL: http://www.blogessor.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/11/2006 02:34:13 PM
Thanks for posting excerpts from these blogs, Bud. I'm still apprehensive, but I'm catching the fever, and I hope my students are, too.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 216.120.146.60
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 10/11/2006 07:51:13 AM
I couldn't agree with you more about the overwhelming apprenhension and fear I share with you about information overload, Bud. With new edublogs created daily (as well as useful non-edublogs), I often feel that my bloglines aggregator will someday be overflowing with gems of information that go untouched, unread, and undiscovered. Taking a break from the Internet during August, I witnessed firsthand how much information I have managed to "connect" myself with when I pulled up over 700 posts from various sites and blogs that I had missed (I'm sorry if you are one of the many whose post I deleted without reading).
The great news if, you are far beyond many teacher's minuscule threshold for information processing (or at elast this teacher's threshold). Yes, you may start to feel overloaded, but I am constantly in awe by the amount of information you do manage to process. My aggregator follows a tiny amount of blogs, and my blogroll is nonexistent, while yours is a truly inspiring site. I think you have a gift for staying connected, and I have no doubt that you will manage to overcome the mountain of information that is ever increasing. Either that, or we'll just start to see the creation of more tight-knit groups of bloggers working in collaboration, which in the end is just as worthwhile and useful as an inbox full of unread messages.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Inconvienient, Not Problematic
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 10/10/2006 03:33:28 PM
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I've never, ever, ever had a hard drive fail on me. In fact, a little while back, I was able to resurrect my "dead" iPod by unplugging the drive and plugging it back in. So far, works fine -- knock on wood. So, like I said, I've never had a hard drive fail.
Until yesterday.
Not really the best week for such shenanigans (thanks for the countdown , y'all), but in the midst of real world struggles and frustrations, I keep reminding myself that it's only an inconvenience. Not a problem. In fact, pretty much every issue that I've got at school and at home falls into the former category. Thanks to Robert Fulghum for helping me to realize the difference:
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat,
if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is
inconvenience.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Preservice Bloggers
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 10/05/2006 09:54:04 PM
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I'm writing tonight to provide a good starting point for a group of preservice teachers and their professor who are all about to take the leap into the edublogosphere/blogosphere/world of weblogs/whatever it is that we're calling ourselves these days.
I'd like to welcome Cindy's preservice teachers to this blog. Look around. Be sure to check out some of the members of my learning network. You'll find links to them on the right hand side of the page.
If you're a preservice teacher, or you're working with preservice teachers, could you please leave a comment telling us where the preservice teachers are blogging? I'd love to be able to connect this bunch of students with others around the world who are learning about teaching and blogging.
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AUTHOR: Art Burdick
EMAIL: agburd@wm.edu
IP: 68.230.208.244
URL: http://beginingat50.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/09/2006 10:50:49 AM
A follow-up to my thanks, I am a preservice teacher at William & Mary in Virginia. The first two semesters of the Elementary Education program include technology classes that the Professor requires BLOGS to encourage development, I am hopeful that I will have an opportunity to carry BLOGGING into my classroom, and take technology to the next generation.
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AUTHOR: Larry
EMAIL:
IP: 66.67.123.221
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/LarryWirth/
DATE: 10/08/2006 04:09:21 PM
In June, I participated in a graduate literacy education class at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. We used a blog as a forum to discuss issues and questions relative to the class. It was active only for the period of the class, but the discussions added significant value to the class.
Take a look at Developing Literacy in MST.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Art Burdick
EMAIL: agburd@wm.edu
IP: 68.230.208.244
URL: http://beginingat50.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/08/2006 11:23:13 AM
Thanks for your help.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cindy O'Donnell-Allen
EMAIL: cindyoa@lamar.colostate.edu
IP: 129.82.187.182
URL:
DATE: 10/06/2006 02:39:14 PM
CONFESSIONS OF AN OLD DOG
Gulp! Time to learn some new tricks. Here we go...with any luck, my CO301D class will visit this post today and begin our blogging expedition.
Actually, I should say my class and me because I created a blog about a year ago and have never been able to find it since. Hmmm...if you want to know why, you can go back to Bud's post and click on my name. I was a little preoccupied with that little project.
But now I'm back. And Bud has promised it's okay to be scared. And he's promised to help. And if all else fails, I'm sure my students are leaps and bounds ahead of me in this territory already.
Wish us luck and thanks in advance for your help.
- Cindy
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben Bleckley
EMAIL: benbleckley@gmail.com
IP: 67.190.26.178
URL: http://pedagogypractice.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/06/2006 12:03:14 PM
It was Bud's presentation in Cindy's class last fall that got me started blogging. I've been pretty delinquent recently, but maybe in the spring I can get things up and running again.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dave E.
EMAIL: dave_emke@yahoo.com
IP: 74.67.217.173
URL: http://emke-d.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/06/2006 08:24:07 AM
Our class at SUNY Cortland was looking into your podcasts in class on Tuesday night. Good stuff. If you check out our course blog (http://alexreid.typepad.com/eng506), you can see all of our student blogs linked in the left column. :)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Yarn. Again.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 10/01/2006 10:19:07 PM
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Thanks for those of you who made suggestions, both on and offline about how I should handle Saturday's blogging workshop.
Turns out, I ended up using the yarn again. What is it about yarn and blogs?
Let me explain.
After a quick introduction, I asked all of the participants to raise their hands if they had done something interesting in their classrooms in the last 30 days. Not surprisingly, every hand went up. I then asked someone to briefly tell us what they did. After my volunteer went, I handed her the end of a skein of yarn and asked anyone who was interesting in learning more about what she had to say to raise their hands. I then instructed the volunteer to hang on to one end of yarn and to toss the skein to someone with their hand up. That new "volunteer" then shared, and we repeated the process, grabbing the yarn and tossing it along to others who were interested in what was going on in our respective classrooms.
It didn't take long for us to notice two things (as I expected):
1. Pretty much everybody in the room was doing something pretty darn interesting.
2. We were all invested/interested in/curious to know more about each others' classrooms.
The reason for the yarn? I wanted people to see the connections that they have to their colleagues -- connections of interest, of investment, concern and curiosity. The yarn was a tangled mess of connection that was a strong visual suggestion of the network that forms when teachers begin to blog and to share their work online.
Participants wanted me to show then how to blog and podcast with their students -- I rejected that idea. The best only way to learn how to create learning networks with students is to create a personal learning network yourself. Once that happens, let's work together to create experiences for students. (In fact, there was talk of doing some long-term training around technology, but that's a story for later.)
As we worked for the rest of the afternoon, reading about learning (good timing, Will!), creating blogs via Blogger and subscribing to each other via Bloglines, the yarn network was there, and we all felt gentle tugs as we typed or when we tried to cross the room to ask a question. (Actually, I tripped over the network at one point, and just about hurt myself.) At the end of the day, I asked every participant to share one goal that they had for their blog over the next several months. Many said that they'd be blogging and reading blogs in their aggregator once a week for the next few months. I thought that was a reasonable goal.
It sounds hokey, but the heart of the matter is that, with blogs and feeds and the connections we're making, we're really connecting with other people (and their ideas and experiences) in ways that just weren't as easy, or as possible, a few short years ago. Adding pictures, video, and audio boost the connection.
That's why the Read/Write Web is important, because of how it allows us to build relationships and share ideas and solve problems. And that's why we should be teaching (in/through) it.
If you'd like to meet our new bloggers, head over to the CSUWP blog and check out the links to Active CSUWP Teacher Blogs. Some are new -- some have been blogging for a little while now.
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AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 72.88.193.168
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 03/05/2008 07:18:57 PM
Hey Bud -- Just wanted to let you know I used the Yarn exercise again today in an all day blogging seminar -- it was the best part of the day as our Internet connection was sluggish all day:-(
Thanks for the inspiration.
- Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Heather
EMAIL: toadie1951@gmail.com
IP: 124.205.213.182
URL:
DATE: 11/06/2007 12:59:44 AM
What a great and simple idea. I am introducing Blogs and Wikis to my colleagues on Thursday during our Professional Development Day. I only learned about all of these things 6 weeks ago and now I am sharing the concepts. I have become a passionate learner concerning Web 2.0 and its possibilities in my classroom and in the changing landscape of education.
Thanks for the idea that takes me back to my beginning days of teaching 33 years ago. Sometime the simple idea is the best idea.
Heather
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alecia
EMAIL: alecia.dry@stjes.com
IP: 66.166.248.187
URL: http://ed-tech-axis.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/25/2007 07:15:51 AM
Thanks so much for the reminder of this kinesthetic tool to engage teachers. I'll use it for my own Faculty Development training next week.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill Davis
EMAIL: uglicoyote@gmail.com
IP: 12.168.98.125
URL: http://reflectteachlearn.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/11/2006 09:02:01 PM
This is great Bud. I'm trying to find ways to get my colleagues to interact more with each other and I know that blogs and wikis are the way to go. I think I'll use the yarn to make that pint at the next faculty meeting.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brandi Caldwell
EMAIL: caldwellb@mtnbrook.k12.al.us
IP: 71.8.32.6
URL: http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/04/2006 10:15:10 PM
I am going to borrow your yarn idea. I am teaching a session tomorrow on social networking. This will be soooo perfect when I try to define the concept. Yarn will be the intro to the session for sure.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 65.166.85.30
URL: http://teach42.com
DATE: 10/04/2006 11:46:11 AM
Love the idea. The last few presentations I've done have been way too heavy on the 'Let me show you how to do this', which hasn't been leaving a great taste in my mouth. I love the way you're reallly getting to the heart of the matter, going beyond the 'how' and getting straight to the 'why'.
Thanks for sharing!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL: dana.huff@gmail.com
IP: 68.191.241.193
URL: http://www.huffenglish.com/
DATE: 10/02/2006 11:55:46 AM
That's a pretty cool idea, Bud. I think I'll steal it for my GISA presentation on using blogs and wikis in the classroom.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/02/2006 09:27:17 AM
I love it, Bud! I am doing another presentation at the SLWP Showcase of Best Practices in a few weeks and may "borrow" this, too. But that's the point of your demonstration, isn't it?
Thanks, as always, for a little jump start!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Michael McVey
EMAIL: mcveym@u.arizona.edu
IP: 67.41.23.111
URL: http://mcvey.wordpress.com
DATE: 10/01/2006 10:47:51 PM
Hah! I used the yarn during my very first presentation on the world wide web eleven years ago. We did something very similar (although I like your web of interconnected ideas and interests better than what I did). I will be giving a blogging talk in a couple of weekends and I may just steal your idea. Of course, you will get many hits from my students since I will be sure to make references to you and your blog.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Good Day for "Reluctance"
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Poetry
DATE: 09/29/2006 03:48:11 PM
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Mary Lee offers this chunk of Robert Frost today:
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?
Oh, yeah. I needed those lines. Here's a link to the rest of the poem.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: NCT
STATUS: Draft
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DATE: 09/29/2006 02:36:11 PM
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NCTE "blogs"
http://www.ncte.org/about/blogs
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Same. Same.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 09/28/2006 03:46:20 PM
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Stephen Downes writes:
. . . how we teach depends not only on the nature of the learner (though it
does that) and the nature of the content (though it does that as well)
but also on why the learner wants to learn and why the teacher wants to
teach.
And there is no single characterization that will
describe those motivations, and hence, no single characterization of
how best to teach, how best to learn.
Yep. He's right. But more and more, schools are looking for the one right way, for some good and plenty of not-so-good reasons. School culture, as a whole (private, public, charter, online, etc.) too often looks for the one way, the one thing we can do to/with/for a student to make/help/force them (to) learn.
I'm guilty of that sometimes, too, even as I understand the truth of Stephen's remark. It's hard to teach even twenty individuals at once with all of our competing motivations/concerns/frustrations/limitations. And I'm lucky -- most classrooms are far larger than mine. A simplistic response to that is to say that a teacher struggling to meet everyone's needs is possibly suffering from poor classroom management skills -- and that might be a piece of the mix -- but I submit that managing the needs of everyone in the room all at once is particularly difficult.
"Same, same" culture is a crushing force, and one that exerts more and more pressure upon the" teacher me". It's the same culture that makes worksheets, multiple choice tests and the like "successful" teaching strategies. Either the worksheet is completed, or it's not. The paper's in, or it's not. Who cares why, right? It's easy to get cold and heartless about stuff like that when "everyone's the same." What's good for the goose, right?
"No exceptions ever" is bad policy. So is "all exceptions all the time." Teaching and learning are very, very messy. How do we create systems that honor differences AND attempt to get maximum magic? (Call it efficiency if you want to, or high achievement if you prefer. Or, simply insert your favorite accountability measure here.)
I wonder why so many of us leave after five years.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Artichoke
EMAIL:
IP: 203.109.237.89
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/Artichoke/
DATE: 10/07/2006 03:32:48 AM
Christopher Sessums made a comment on Joan Vinall-Cox's blog that I have used with our ict_pd cluster teachers in New Zealand - it so cleverly captures the complexity of the teachers role.
My own belief is that teaching is a social act, a political act, and very much a situated act. I often subscribe to what I will call the Kenny Roger's "Gambler" approach to teaching/learning: You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run. (Ugh!)I worry when I feel I am being too prescriptive with students. On the other hand, when I sense that what students need to get over a proverbial hump is a good old fashioned lecture, then that's what I give them. Of course, I then catch myself thinking "was that the right thing to do?" Should I let them struggle some more? When do I intervene? When do I step back? It feels a lot like parenting or coaching, no?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 72.19.152.43
URL:
DATE: 09/28/2006 08:16:29 PM
It seems to me that the answer to Bud's question about generating maximum "magic" can be found by providing consumers with choices. Notice that one rarely hears people criticizing, say, how McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Carl's Junior, Jack in the Box, or Good Times produces cheeseburgers. People don't have to worry about it, because they have choices - if Bud likes BK and I prefer McD, we can each "have it our way," and there is no reason for conflict.
But suppose Bud had to pay McD thousands of dollars each year, regardless of whether he liked their food or even ate there. Suddenly, Bud would have an interest in how McD was spending the money; after all, it would be his money that they were spending.
In short, if you give consumers real choices, the issues about teaching styles are reduced to the extent that people can vote with their feet.
To answer the second question, why people leave teaching after a few years, I can share the experience of a friend of mine who left teaching after one year. The complete lack of accountability in the system simply disgusted him. For example, he gave a math test that had "A" and "B" forms, with forms passed out in an alternating fashion to limit cheating. Several students produced the correct answers for test "B," though they were taking test "A!" When he reported this to parents, very few cared. Nor would the administration back him. Most of the students arrived in his class grossly unprepared from the previous year's study, but they had all been promoted regardless, and he was expected to promote his students regardless of whether they achieved.
The interesting question to me isn't why good people leave within five years; rather, how does anybody maintain their sanity for more than five years in such an environment?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: One Last Call
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 09/27/2006 03:29:29 PM
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Will reminds you, so I don't have to:
This is your last reminder…presentation proposals for the First Annual K12 Online Conference
are due by the end of day Saturday, so if you haven’t gotten yours in
yet, you better get cranking. As of this moment, we have 34 proposals…
Click here to submit.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Elgg & Flickr (& Writely & Lots More)
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Elgg
DATE: 09/27/2006 03:14:58 PM
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So a student of mine and I are looking at Youth Voices.net, a collaborative project involving lots of students and an Elgg that looks pretty interesting. (You can read more about it, and get involved if you want to, here. Or here.) We're noticing that there are lots of photos embedded in students' posts, and we'd like to do the same.
We need to know the API information for Elgg so that we can use Flickr's "Blog this Photo" opotion. I've followed these instructions, and they don't work for us. Tried them in Writely, too, and got no results.
What are we doing wrong? If we can figure out the API, then we can use Writely with Elgg. And Flickr with Elgg. And so on and so on.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill Fitzgerald
EMAIL: bill@openacademic.com
IP: 67.160.162.39
URL: http://openacademic.org
DATE: 09/27/2006 08:57:50 PM
http://elgg.net/dtosh/weblog/131374.html
Cheers,
Bill
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogger's Blocked. Now What?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 09/26/2006 08:44:25 PM
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Mr. McNamar's got a problem:
My school has blocked access to blogger this year. I've been using it
for two years and would like to continue to do so. But, because
Blogger.com and the blogspot url needs "full site access," and because
the "next blog" feature in the top right, the filters will now block
access. Is there a way around this? Or has anyone used edublogs.org?
Send your suggestions his way.
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AUTHOR: Jeff
EMAIL: masonjnl@cox.net
IP: 68.109.109.181
URL:
DATE: 10/03/2006 04:13:42 PM
I have the very same situation with my district. I am still requesting that they allow access to the site (3rd attempt, no answer yet). I was concerned with the "Next Blog" button myself, because of adult blogs I encountered, so I altered the template to remove that function. I know this really is not in alignment with the agreement, but I thought my intentions were good anyway. I had originally set things up with edublogs.org only to find out later, in the faqs,that the blogs are not for student use.
We have an Apple Server (and the Tiger upgrade) at school not being used at the moment, but our tech guy is not a mac person so I am beating the bushes for assistance. At this point, Im inclined to agree with gls.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: gls
EMAIL: gls@kingary.net
IP: 24.196.163.47
URL: http://matchingtracksuits.com
DATE: 09/27/2006 08:04:06 PM
Why not buy a cheap hosting account and use WordPress? That's what I've done. Using WordPress gives you a great deal more flexibility in your blog than just about anything else out there.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.190.108
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com
DATE: 09/27/2006 10:47:33 AM
I've never used edublogs, but David Warlick's Classblogmeister is getting rather slick. You might want to try that out as well.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom
EMAIL: twwoodward@henrico.k12.va.us
IP: 68.57.79.216
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher
DATE: 09/26/2006 09:23:20 PM
I've used edublogs and like it.
I think you will have to think about this though. If your district/county is starting to block sites like this it'll be likely to grow (ours certainly did). Depending on how things are run there you may easily be blocked from a site you've invested quite a bit of time and effrot into.
I'd first try to get something hosted on your school's server (if they have one).
If that fails (and it has for me so far) you can get can get a good deal on server space from any number of sites and set things up yourself. This is what I do and it's worked well for me so far. Although I recommend talking to your filter people to make sure your site doesn't get blocked.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Does Tech Change Writing? (Is that a leading question?)
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 09/26/2006 04:22:00 PM
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Kevin needs your help:
I am working with two distinguished researchers/writers in the field of composition (Charlie Moran and Anne Herrington)
from the University of Massachusetts Amherst to develop a book that
examines how our view of teaching writing and composition is changing
with the integration of technology. Anne and Charlie have looked at
writing practices from a variety of angles, including writing across
the curriculum and genres. Now they want to add technology to the mix.
We are looking for classroom teachers in grades 4-13 who can write
about their experiences. We have just published a call for proposals in
English Journal and other sources but I wanted to use my web of Blogs to get the word out, too.
Visit his blog to read the formal call for proposals. Then get writing and send in a proposal.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: thebizofknowledge
EMAIL: bill@panasianbiz.com
IP: 75.12.148.120
URL: http://www.thebizofknowledge.com
DATE: 09/27/2006 10:25:44 AM
Bud, I just had to take a moment to tell you what an exciting project this sounds like. I look forward to reading this book once it's published. I do believe that teaching writing has changed in this high tech age. Good luck to Kevin and his co-writers for tackliing an important subject!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kevin
EMAIL: dogtrax@gmail.com
IP: 159.250.65.209
URL: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/
DATE: 09/26/2006 07:25:01 PM
Thanks for the mention here, Bud.
I hope some people answer the call and showcase the work and reflection that is going on in their classrooms.
Kevin
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Presentation Question
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 09/25/2006 10:55:25 PM
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I'm giving a presentation/workshop to a great group of teacher consultants of the CSUWP on Saturday. The focus/topic is "Blogging &/or Podcasting 102." Do you think they'd like to leave with their own blog, or should we work towards an online community ala Elgg? I originally had intended to go the blog route, as I've done with that group in the past, but a conversation with a colleague this week has me thinking that perhaps a supportive online community gathering place might be a better way to go.
What do you think?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Quentin D'Souza
EMAIL: qdsouza@gmail.com
IP: 209.161.226.195
URL: http://www.teachinghacks.com/wiki
DATE: 09/26/2006 09:19:59 PM
Hi Bud,
I'm just thinking about what might be more meaningful to this group of educators. If this is a one off presentation where you are simply demoing something go with blogs - and see if you can light a few more blog fires?
If you intend on building a more collaborative ongoing relationship with this community, I would go with ELGG because of the richness of the type of community that you can create, which also includes blogging as well.
Also, although I see your focus is on Blogging and Podcasting, I would love to see what this group could create using a WIKI and internet access in 30 minutes. This might offer the type of immediate collaboration to solve particular issues that as a group, they are working through. Maybe start with a question - what are the steps to effective professional development around integrating technology in the writing classroom? Let them brainstorm individually in a part of the wiki. Then let them compile their ideas as a group in another part of the wiki. And finally give them the opportunity to reflect on the ideas that were aggragated to see if they might have a new breaktrhrough. :-) okay - I'm rambling.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 72.2.13.42
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 09/26/2006 05:17:22 AM
Get a blog and a supportive online community in two steps. Set them up with blogs and then with Bloglines accounts, making them subscribe to each other's blogs. As well, choose a few edubloggers that you think they would benefit from and have them join an already existing community. This is basically what I have had my grade 7 / 8 students do. We created blogs, they are slowly building up what we are calling a PLN (Personal Learning Newtwork) as they are finding other blogs whose voices are valuable for them and I have given them several blogs as "required reading" that they need to subscribe to.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Post in Which The Author Self-Indulgently Wallows in His Frustrations for a Moment
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Elgg
CATEGORY: Moodle
DATE: 09/25/2006 10:42:01 PM
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You ever make a mistake that gets in the way of the learning that you want to have happening in your classroom?
Boy, I sure did. And it's been bugging me for the last week and a half. Consider this post a confessional of my error, as well as a bit of free writing about how in the world I'm going to get out of the pedagogical hole that I've placed myself in. (Okay, it's not a hole, but it's a danged ol' pothole, and that's frustrating enough.)
See, after my first writing assignment in my 10th grade course, I found myself with several really good pieces of student writing. Really interesting essays, the kind that demand to be read.
I had originally planned for my students to publish these to our school Elgg. But at the last minute, in a moment where I could see that my students, pushed to the edges of their patience by new classroom computers that almost worked perfectly and a Moodle that took them a little while to learn to navigate, I made a decision that I thought was going to save time and create a neat way for my students to publish from right inside the Moodle.
Instead of directing students to the Elgg, with an entirely new login and password and profile creation process (hurry up, OpenAcademic gang!), I sent them to the blogging feature of Moodle, hoping they could taste the sweet success of instant publishing. I covered all the safety basics, making sure identities were appropriately protected, and it was easy to push their writing into a public place.
Kind of. See, while anyone can come along and read what my students wrote, and chose to publish, no one can comment on their work, because Moodle blogs don't allow for that. I'm sure I could (or someone already has) create a way to do commenting, but I need a simple solution. Yesterday. Comments are an essential piece of the feedback and publishing model that I see in my classroom. I forgot that for about five minutes when I called an audible in the heat of a classroom moment. Does that ever happen to you?
The frustrating piece here is that when I created the Elgg, I created a simple solution.
I just didn't use the simple solution, because I was afraid that one more setup process would kill the writing community that I'd created. Turns out the teacher can do a good job of that, too. Just needed to vent. I've discussed the issue briefly with my students. They're a little burned when it comes to publishing online right now, and I don't blame them. My bad. Big bad, too, if I've turned them off to one of the best motivators for their future success as thinkers and writers.
The question is -- what do we do now? (My hunch is that we move forward anyway, especially when their next assignment comes due at the end of this week, trying to ease hurt feelings as I go. It's just so frustrating to slam smack into this wall when I saw it coming and had a plan.) Any suggestions?
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AUTHOR: thebizofknowledge
EMAIL: bill@panasianbiz.com
IP: 75.12.148.120
URL: http://www.thebizofknowledge.com
DATE: 09/27/2006 10:28:33 AM
Bud, I'm afraid I'm rather unfamiliar with the subject matter, but I did want to tell you that I think every one of us has made our share of "goofs" in the classroom. I wouldn't dwell on it too much. Just chalk it up to experience and know you've learned something in the process!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@rimestimes.net
IP: 64.149.133.104
URL: http://www.rimestimes.net
DATE: 09/26/2006 06:58:53 PM
I admit that I've been slow on the uptake lately as I haven't been following the development and use of Elgg, but I'd say that you stumbled into a pothole that I feel will only be ever-more present in the world of Ed Tech. With the seeming overload of technical solutions for instant publishing it's only a matter of time before more of us run into the problem you had Bud. Being the first one down the highway has those wonderful perks, but at least you were wise enough to catch your mistake and make ammends. There are many people out there, including myself, that would have difficulty swallowing that pride and admitting to teenagers that you've made an error.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 167.86.1.223
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/26/2006 01:30:40 PM
Bud,
It was hard for me to find those essays on your Moodle (they're in the blog section, correct?). I assumed they would be attached to a course so I tried to find them that way, but couldn't get into your courses as a guest. I then created a login, but those require a key as well to get into the courses. I kept looking and eventually found the "View Site Entries" on the blog menu. Now, there's probably a big 'ole link somewhere that I missed (if so, please ignore this comment) but, if not, you might want to figure out an easier way for folks to find them if you want feedback for your students.
And I meant to add last time, don't beat yourself up too much over this. I think it's very powerful if you share with your students the struggles you go through as a teacher, as well as ask for their input. As you try these new ways of engaging your students and helping them learn and grow, you inevitably will have times when you make the wrong move. Learn from it, share with your students (so they see that even the best have bad moments), and keep doing all you do for your students.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 167.86.1.223
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/26/2006 01:14:58 PM
I'd ask your students which way they want to go. Do they want to spend the time learning Elgg, or would they rather keep using Moodle?
It seems like when Moodle added blogging without commenting, the argument from the Moodle folks at the time was that discussion boards (or whatever Moodle calls them) was where they thought the discussion should take place. That makes me wonder if there is any way within Moodle to "attach" a discussion to the students' blog entries. It would definitely still be a work around, but if you could create discussions for each of their pieces of writing and link to them somehow from their blog entries, it might work.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 170.235.213.114
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 09/26/2006 07:46:53 AM
If it makes you feel better, we're struggling with this too. We're going to do elgg, and we're probably going to hand-code all the same passwords into elgg that we use for moodle.
But yeah, the need for that one stop shopping school portal is growing by the day.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill Fitzgerald
EMAIL: bill@openacademic.com
IP: 67.160.162.39
URL: http://openacademic.org
DATE: 09/26/2006 06:52:04 AM
Hello, Bud,
I'd say you handled the immediate situation pretty well -- it's a good thing for students to hear an instructor (especially an instructor they respect) admit to making a mistake -- depending on the nature of the class, you could open today with, "I've been thinking about what happened yesterday, and I feel bad about my role in slowing things down" -- and then, bring them into creating their Elgg profile. Because of the nature of the Elgg profile (it asks more questions, and the answers then become tags/searchable, which some kids will discover) it might actually be fun. Also, if you separate the acount creation process from the publishing, your students will be ready to go when it's time to publish the next assignment.
WRT OpenAcademic gang hurrying up: look for news on this SOON! We have some testing to do, especially with regards to documenting the best hosting environment and the install procedure. I just need to stop commenting on blogs so I can get some work done :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Michael Penney
EMAIL: mmp5@humboldt.edu
IP: 75.2.132.45
URL: http://learn.humboldt.edu
DATE: 09/25/2006 11:18:08 PM
Have you tried the Elgg integration for Moodle?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Things I Wish I Could Do with Elgg (or wish I knew how to do)
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Elgg
DATE: 09/21/2006 04:02:00 PM
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Here are some quick questions for those of you either building or using Elgg. I would like to be able to do the following things with an Elgg. Can you tell me if they're possible?
- Capture an RSS feed for all posts made to the site. (Ideally, one for public posts and one for logged-in user posts.)
- Capture separate RSS feeds for different tags on the site. (This would help me to create a teacher or class specific aggregator. Publishing a post becomes turning in homework or assignments when the proper tag is added to an entry. Multiple tags for multiple classes and eyes, when necessary.)
- See a list of communities somewhere that students can join. (I understand that this feature might be coming -- but I think it'd really help me create useful resources in the Elgg managed by teachers and interested students if I could point them to a page where they could sign up to join different communities. Yeah, I know. Elgg is supposed to work differently. Small steps.)
- Any chance I can stick a calendar into an Elgg in such a way as to allow everyone on the site to see what's going on around the physical community? (I've got to ask, right?)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Moderation Off
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Vandalism
DATE: 09/16/2006 09:49:00 PM
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Okay. Let's try this again. Comments are now unmoderated. Feel free to comment away. Responsibly, of course.
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AUTHOR: Chris Craft
EMAIL: crafty184@gmail.com
IP: 209.133.140.103
URL: http://www.opensourceclassroom.com
DATE: 09/18/2006 06:18:47 AM
I'm curious. What did you do to cause you to feel confident again? I still am a little weary of allowing unmoderated comments due to the nasty attack a few days ago. I activated Akismet, but have done little more. The attack seems to have quit, but I fear they are just trying to get me to let my guard down.
How did you do it? Inspire me! :)
Yours,
Chris Craft
www.opensourceclassroom.com
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wicked Evil Blog Spam
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Vandalism
DATE: 09/14/2006 09:26:20 PM
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Due to a wickedly sinister, and seemlingly pre-meditated, comment spam attack, I've temporarily turned on comment moderation. My apologies for the foolishness of some misguided children. Hopefully, I can restore open commenting shortly. In the meantime, I'm moderating.
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AUTHOR: chris
EMAIL: chris@k12station.com
IP: 209.6.177.244
URL: http://www.k12station.com
DATE: 09/19/2006 09:04:25 PM
I like Blogger because of the comment verification features ... that effectively eliminates automated spam-bots. Moderation is a huge pain in the behind, and it kills the conversational nature of timely comments.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.136.254
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/16/2006 04:42:01 AM
Bud, I had an attack yesterday too. It was only three but they were pretty disgusting. I sort of feel like someone has an agenda or is trying to stir the pot of us about the sickos out there. Hmmm.
For Kurt -
Start blogging and writing about what you're doing. Share information on your blog and comment, as you are doing. You'll attract readers. That is the beauty of the blogosphere.
Good luck with moderation, Bud!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kurt Knoerl
EMAIL: mua@keimaps.com
IP: 143.228.136.207
URL: http://www.uri.edu/mua
DATE: 09/15/2006 11:08:59 AM
I have a question for teachers. I manage an online museum of underwater archaeology and have had some success spreading the word about our organization and the tools we offer to other underwater archaeologists. We also have exhibits and features we feel might be of interest to teachers including a children's introduction to underwater archaeology and an online journal of a graduate field school currently taking place in North Carolina. Students write each day and post what it's like to learn underwater archaeology out in the field.
I am unsure how best to spread the word about this to the educational community. Do you have any recommendations? Our site is located here: http://www.uri.edu/mua
Thanks for your help.
Kurt Knoerl
Managing Director
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
mua@keimaps.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com/
DATE: 09/15/2006 10:25:33 AM
I had the same problem last night on my blog. I couldn't decide what to do about it -- other than delete the comments. Do I write about it and give them that attention or ignore it? Do I moderate comments now? I have decided, for the time being at least, to do nothing. Except hope it doesn't happen again.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Craft
EMAIL: crafty184@gmail.com
IP: 209.133.140.103
URL: http://www.opensourceclassroom.com
DATE: 09/15/2006 04:54:26 AM
I had to do the exect same thing! Just within the last few days. I posted on this just yesterday. Ironic that this is such a problem!
Hoping you see a solution to this...
Chris Craft
The Open Source Classroom
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: EJ's Watershed Poetry Articles
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: English Journal
DATE: 09/13/2006 11:01:25 PM
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September's English Journal is all about poetry. What's great is that the EJ website is showcasing, for a limited time, the "10 Watershed Articles" on poetry from EJ. It's a collection of articles that span EJ's lifetime, all about teaching poetry, as named by two of September's contributing authors.
If you're into poetry, teaching poetry, or the history of teaching poetry, then thiscollection is worth a few minutes of your time. I'm continually amazed by how today's issues are also yesterday's, in lots of ways.
We don't necessarily seem to learn everything that we can from the past.
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AUTHOR: thebizofknowledge
EMAIL: bill@panasianbiz.com
IP: 75.12.148.120
URL: http://www.thebizofknowledge.com
DATE: 09/27/2006 10:31:12 AM
Bud, I took a quick look at the articles, and, wow, they look amazing! Thank you so much for providing this invaluable link. I'm sure that any of us teaching poetry classes will benefit from this post.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: TIme to Submit Those Proposals
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: K12Online
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 09/13/2006 10:25:43 PM
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The proposal submission form is up over at the K12Online Conference blog. If you're a K-12 classroom teacher, or someone who works with K-12 classroom teachers, and you're doing something interesting with technology that's making the classroom a better place to be for our students, we need you to share the good stuff with us. Please, please, please consider carving out some time to submit a conference proposal.
I'm so excited to have this opportunity to learn and work with you.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Broadcasting History
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 09/10/2006 09:02:04 PM
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I was asked by a PR firm working for CNN to remind y'all that CNN's website will feature the coverage from 9/11/2001 tomorrow:
Dear Mr. Hunt,
Tomorrow is going to be a rough day -- the fifth anniversary
of the attacks of September 11, 2001. As an education writer and observer, you know the value of a “teachable
moment” -- and that it must be used properly. Tributes and recollections will appear everywhere, filtered through the
eyes of analysts, journalists, bloggers, politicians and every other American
with access to a podium – in print, on a street corner, on the air or
online. But five years can muddy
recollections – and for many students, five years ago is an eternity.
There is a great resource available for free that can
help. CNN Pipeline – CNN.com's premium
video news service -- will replay, without charge, CNN’s coverage from that day
precisely as happened five years ago, beginning at 8:30 a.m. (ET), minutes
before the first news reports of a plane hitting the World Trade Center in New
York City.
CNN Pipeline is comprised of four separate feeds. Through them the rebroadcast will supplement
its coverage with live reports from memorial services in New York City,
Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
One more thing: To be sensitive to those online users who do
not wish to see the replay, CNN Pipeline requires those who want to see the
footage to click on Pipe 4 to launch the program.
The people who frequent Bud the Teacher care about
education and are tech-savvy and culturally aware. They’ll appreciate knowing that this opportunity exists. On behalf of CNN, we hope you’ll tell them.
I'm getting more and more of these press release-type e-mails, although I don't usually respond to them. (Maybe that's a session for a future conference -- Blogger as PR Target: Responding to the Corporate Press Machine.) This one, though, is likely worth passing on. I was glued to CNN for a few weeks during/after 9/11. It was a pretty scary time. And, yes, I know that's a pretty United Statesian-centric worldview. But it was. Scary.
I probably won't be using this tool in my classroom -- I wasn't planning a very long remembrance. Our school-wide daily writing prompt tomorrow is "Remember." It's open ended because I know that some students won't want to think about 9/11 -- and I'm not sure it's my place to force them to. Then again, it might be, but that's a post for another day.
I will check in with the coverage with my journalism students -- but that's all. I'm not sure that I like the idea that this footage is being reused, in part, as a promotional tool for a new web-based news service. I do, agree, though, that seeing the original footage has some educational value.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Boyhowdy
EMAIL: boyhowdy@gmail.com
IP: 71.161.146.253
URL: http://wmsteach.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/12/2006 06:48:29 PM
Though I appreciate CNN's efforts, so much of their coverage that day was not news, but spectacle -- the same images over and over again, like every other news outlet. Great for a media literacy class, I suppose. But hardly a great day for television, given that the newsworthiness was not the full day's coverage, but the surprisingly short event, the aftermath of months (not a day), and a few images we were left with afterwards.
I did a presentation in 2002 at a prep school on the subject, in fact, discussing the place of each type of medium in the presence and aftermath of national crisis, which went into significant detail on this. The thrust of the television part of my talk, though, was exactly that -- that in the hours of aftermath and constant replay, television, truly, magnifies a moment like this in ways which may be neither healthy nor the best use of television. TV has a great place in society, I say -- but this wasn't it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Noon
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 209.112.150.144
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org/
DATE: 09/11/2006 12:32:14 AM
Here's a bit of an article by Alfie Kohn that I'd like to share:
...But our broader obligation is to address what writer Martin Amis recently described as Americans' chronic "deficit of empathy for the sufferings of people far away." Schools should help children locate themselves in widening circles of care that extend beyond self, beyond country, to all humanity.
Likewise, education must be about developing the skills and disposition to question the official story, to view with skepticism the stark us-against-them (or us good, them bad) portrait of the world and the accompanying dehumanization of others that helps to explain that empathy deficit. Students should also be able to recognize dark historical parallels in the President's rhetoric, and to notice what is not being said or shown on the news.
It seems to me that we have no better opportunity to showcase the power of social media for bringing people around the world together, as well as the need for critical media literacy, than by exploring questions like, "Who's a terrorist?"
The Alfie Kohn article came from a special Rethinking Schools report on Sept. 11, which also contains a pretty well thought-out lesson by Bill Bigelow.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blazin' a Trail
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 09/08/2006 04:04:00 PM
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Douglas sent me a link to TrailFire, a new tool that adds a neat wrinkle to social bookmarking -- annotation. From his post on the subject:
I am not usually taken in by these social bookmarking things, but I
have to admit I am finding this incarnation of 2.0 widgetty goodness
quite compelling. All the other social bookmarking tools out there
promote the individual webpage as the most important aspect of a good
find. They don’t celebrate the trail to get there.
Trailfire celebrates the trail.
Invoking this quick to use plug-in for Firefox or IE I can blaze a
trail through the Internet (they call them ‘marks’, but ‘blazes’ is
more accurate in trail building lingo and has an energy that ‘marks’
and ‘marking’ just doesn’t–I’m calling their marketing guys), at each
stop recording my thoughts on a particular page–why I blazed it. Find a
page, blaze it; find the next page, blaze it; then a few more pages
till I have an entire saved and named trail for others to follow. I
send you the URL that tracks the path I just created or link to it in a
post. This new trail guides you through a particular argument I might
be trying to make or just a series of related topics I have strung
together for your pleasure. And if you happen to think that I have a
knack for trails that suit your tastes you can find them here.
My first reaction is that this tool will be a great way for teachers
to organize a guided Internet curriculum for students, but the truth is
that it’s great for anyone who wants to give context to their content
or just to highlight more than one interesting page at a time. Sure,
you could blaze an extended brainfart of unrelated topics and pages,
but why would you? Out here in the real world trails go somewhere or at
the very least by something interesting. I think the natural
inclination of electronic trailblazers will be to do the same thing:
catalogue a series of pages into a contextual setting like an argument
or a tour or a lesson.
I can imagine creating TrailFire marks for lots of different reasons. Here's one Douglas created that shows the simple power of the service. I really like that the pages this service creates are interactive -- I can leave the trail at any point if I find something of interest as I go. Of course, that leads me to wonder if there are some copyright issues here, as I'm wondering if it's okay to completely mash-up an entire web page and host it on an different server -- but that's another post.
This is definitely a tool worth some exploration.
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AUTHOR: josuelegido
EMAIL: josudiguez34@yahoo.com
IP: 200.117.202.198
URL: http://www.miselegidos.com
DATE: 10/09/2007 09:41:22 AM
hey you.. here you have a new and good spanish social bookmarking tool.. i dont know if this is useful for you.. but for me it is.
www.miselegidos.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Douglas
EMAIL: palisade14@gmail.com
IP: 66.109.214.154
URL: http://www.coronerstories.com/
DATE: 09/08/2006 09:58:06 PM
I can't say for sure and I didn't find anything in the FAQ, but I don't think they are caching these pages the way Furl or Google might.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Some of My Input
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 09/07/2006 09:37:39 PM
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It's only a few weeks into the school year, and I know that I need boosts to keep my energy up. Two such boosts are recent additions to my learning network. Thought I'd share.
The first is one David Warlick mentioned recently -- the Geek!Ed! podcast. The four folks that do this podcast are laugh out loud funny, which was handy this evening when I needed a chuckle. They're also thought-provoking -- which makes for a nice combination.
The second is a blog that I've been reading for a while, but I only recently stuck it into the sidebar of this blog. (Does anyone look at the sidebar anymore?) Not All Who Wander Are Lost is a blog written by a true master of language. I enjoy the glimpses into family, nature, music, and other details of the life of this stranger who writes with such detail and crispness that I have to pause and savor the words. Here's a recent entry that is almost prose poetry, a true pleasure to read:
Cassia couldn't sleep, so I took her outside in
the damp night to listen to the bugs buzz, the peepers peep. Her
year-and-a-half eyes glowed wide with wonder as walked down the
driveway, the pitch black before us, the garagelight fading behind us.
Afterwards, she gave me a snuggle and said my daddy clear as a bell before asking for Mama, and bed.
Meanwhile,
Willow had a hissy fit out at the stream this afternoon, so we cut the
fishing short and fumed back through the woods together, though if she
were old enough to make her own way back, she would have. She pulls at
her sister, and natters loudly if we try to talk to anyone else in her
presence. Tonight, on the phone with my mother, of all the wondeful
things we did this weekend, she chose to share did you know that we were pulled over by a policeman in the car?
Once,
the wee one was practically prehuman, cute but essentially object.
Once, the elderkid was sweet, generous, gracious and gentle by default.
I suppose they'll forever see-saw, too, on their own wobbly curves,
sometimes in sync at high or low, sometimes like today, just a study in
opposites.
Ah, who am I kidding. I love 'em, God bless 'em.
Even if their reaction to my daytime absence were to remain forever
diverse and unpredictable, I miss them terribly when I'm working. So
long, summer vacation. Hello again, teacher's life.
One other addition to my sidebar is that of Dawn Hogue. She's a frequent contributor to a listserv that I frequently lurk on. She's also a CyberEnglish teacher, which is a flavor of language arts instruction that many who read this blog would find valuable, and one that I've always been interested in, even though I can't say that I completely understand it. I'm looking forward to learning more.
What new reads or listens have you discovered?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Boyhowdy
EMAIL: boyhowdy@gmail.com
IP: 71.161.146.253
URL: http://mediakit.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/12/2006 06:44:02 PM
Thanks for noticing, Bud...and right back atcha.
Thought I'd mention that in addition to my homeblog, I also run and write an official teacherblog which your readers might find useful, one which is open to all, though it is targeted specifically to my mostly blognovice coworkers at Wilbraham Middle School.
This week's entry discusses plagiarism and the cut-and-paste paradigm; next week, we discuss schoolwide network printing, resource sharing, and the neverending question of accepting digital submissions.
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PING:
TITLE: Re: Some of My Input
URL: http://hickstro.org/?p=28
IP: 209.200.229.5
BLOG NAME: Digital Writing, Digital Teaching
DATE: 09/08/2006 11:10:06 PM
Bud,
I, too, have been listening to GEEK!ED!, and found the discussion with David Warlick engaging. Sometimes they seem right on target, sometimes they veer, but it is generally a good show. I appreciate their humor, but when they really start to laugh...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: So Long, Fair Friend
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 09/06/2006 08:19:26 PM
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In November of 2004, I won an iPod at the NCTE conference. That was a good thing, as I don't know that I would've spent that kind of money on myself, especially for a "gadget." Within a month or two, I was listening to podcasts. Within six months, the radio was off and I was listening almost exclusively to podcasts. Eventually, I was making my own.
My iPod has been grinding to a slow halt for six weeks. After a few weeks of rest and vacation at Camp Junk-Drawer-in-My-Kitchen (a place where lots of great tools and other stuff goes to get away from it all) she seemed to be returning to normal.
Until this morning.
I've lost a good friend. And, in lots of ways, my connection to the larger world of podcasting. I feel a little lost, to tell you the truth. My small family of iRivers is doing some of the work that my iPod was doing, but not as well, or as easily.
Remember her fondly. I sure will.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: AlmostAmerican
EMAIL:
IP: 71.233.213.206
URL: http://almostamerican.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/07/2006 01:56:02 PM
So the life of an iPod is less than 24 months??? Was it the battery that died or something else that went wrong?
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AUTHOR:
EMAIL:
IP: 198.209.24.144
URL:
DATE: 09/07/2006 07:12:28 AM
Why not just go to the apple store and have them take a look at the ipod?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Google News -- The Good 'Ol Days
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 09/06/2006 04:01:00 PM
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(Via Josh)
Google has now put together a News Search specifically for archived news from the last 200 years. According to TechCrunch (and my quick scan) the information available is spotty, but I was blown away by a few quick searches. I imagine this is a resource worth exploring further.
Wow.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Beginning the School Year
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 09/04/2006 01:15:03 PM
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In this podcast, my first in a while, Darren and I discuss going back to school, what we're up to with technology, and our thoughts about some plans that we have. The podcast ends with Darren's announcement about the K12 Online Conference.
As always, we're both interested in hearing your thoughts, reactions, comments and concerns. Please let us know what you think by leaving a comment here or at Darren's post.
Enjoy.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jo McLeay
EMAIL: jbmcleay@gmail.com
IP: 210.8.187.106
URL: http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/04/2006 10:26:21 PM
Hi Bud, listened to your podcast this morning while I should have been getting ready for school. Loved hearing you and Darren talk about your plans and thoughts about classroom blogging and publishing work rather than handing it in. Anyway, luckily I did make it to school on time but I keep thinking about the ideas and thoughts you shared. Thanks
Jo
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: K12 Online Conference
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: K12Online
DATE: 09/04/2006 01:04:01 PM
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I'm pleased to report that I'll be giving one of the keynote presentations for the first "K12 Online 2006" conference/convention/virtual meetup/really neat-o mashup of smart folks sharing interesting things. Please read the rest of this post to learn more and to see how you can participate. Thanks in advance to the conference organizers for all of the hard work they've done so far -- and all the work left to do.
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Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006″ convention for
teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in
the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This
year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27
and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” A call for proposals is below.
There will be four “conference strands”– two each week. Two
presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday -
Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the
course of the two-weeks. Each presentation will be given in podcast or
screencast format and released via the conference blog (URL: TBA) and
archived for posterity.
THE FOUR STRANDS ARE:
Week 1
Strand A: A Week In The Classroom
These presentations will focus on the practical pedagogical uses of
online social tools (Web 2.0) giving concrete examples of how teachers
are using the tools in their classes. They will also show how teachers
plan for using these tools in the delivery of their curricular
objectives.
Strand B: Basic/Advanced Training (one of each per day)
Basic training is “how to” information on tool use in an educational setting, especially for newcomers.
Advanced training is for teachers who have already started using Web
2.0 tools in their classes and are looking for: (a) advanced technology
training (eg. how to write your own blog template or hack existing
ones), (b) new tools they can make use of in their classes, (c)
teaching ideas on how to mash tools together to create “something new,”
(d) a pedagogical understanding of how technologies such as Weblogs,
wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking sites, RSS feeds and others can
deepen learning and increase student achievement, or (e) use of
assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of Read/Write Web
technologies in their personal practice and with their students.
Week 2
Strand A: Personal Professional Development
Tips, ideas and resources on how to orchestrate your own professional
development online; the tools that support Professional Learning
Environments (PLEs); how to create opportunities to bring these
technologies to the larger school community; how to effectively
incorporate the tools into your personal or professional practice; or
how to create a supportive, reflective virtual professional community
around school-based goals.
Strand B: Overcoming Obstacles
Tips, ideas and resources on how to deal with issues like: lack of
access to tools/computers, filtering, parental/district concerns for
online safety, and other IT concerns while trying to focus on best
practice in the use of Web 2.0 tools.
CONVENORS & KEYNOTES
For organization purposes, each strand is overseen by a conference
convenor who will assist and coordinate presenters in their strand. The
first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a
well known educator who has distinguished his/herself and is
knowledgeable in the context of each topic. This year’s convenors and
keynote presenters are:
A Week In The Classroom
Convenor: Darren Kuropatwa
Keynote: Bud Hunt
Bud Hunt teaches high school language arts and
journalism at Olde Columbine High School in Longmont, Colorado. He is a
teacher-consultant with and the Tech Liaison for the Colorado State
University Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing
Project, a group working to improve the teaching of writing in schools
via regular and meaningful professional development. Bud is also the
co-editor of the New Voices column of English Journal, a publication of
the National Council of Teachers of English. A consumer of copious
amounts of New Media, Bud blogs and podcasts about his practice and
larger educational issues at http://www.budtheteacher.com.
Basic/Advanced Training
Convenor: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
Keynote: TBA
Personal Professional Development
Convenor: Will Richardson
Keynote: Ewan McIntosh
Ewan McIntosh is an educational technologist and teacher
of French and German. Based in the Edinburgh area of Scotland he
frequently works around the UK and Europe, leading student and teacher
workshops and conferences. He is an experienced workshop facilitator in
the area of Web 2.0 technologies in education across stages and
curricular areas. Ewan blogs at http://edu.blogs.com
Overcoming Obstacles
Convener: TBA
Keynote: Anne Davis
Anne is known for seeing the educational possibilities
in the use ofweblogs with students in classrooms, having implemented
wonderful ideasand weblog projects with students and teachers in K-12
classrooms and atthe university level. She currently works at Georgia
State University inthe Instructional Technology Center in the College
of Education as anInformation Systems Training Specialist. Her weblog,
EduBlog Insights
is a co-winner of the Best Teacher Blog inthe
second international Edublog Awards, a web based event thatrecognizes
the many diverse and imaginative ways in which weblogs arebeing used
within education.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
We’d like to invite you to submit a proposal to present at the
conference. If you have something you’d like to share with the
community, both people who are new to blogs and/or experienced bloggers
please email the appropriate conference convenor above with your ideas.
The deadline to submit a proposal (just the proposal, not the finished
product) is September 30, 2006. One of us will contact you to finalize
the date of your presentation. Your presentation may be delivered in
any web-based medium (including but not limited to…podcasts, PowerPoint
files, blogs, websites, wikis, screencasts, etc.) and must be emailed
to your assigned conference convenor one week before it goes live, (see
above strands) so that it can be uploaded to the server.
The conference organizers are:
Darren Kuropatwa
Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of
Mathematics at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave
the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his
pedagogical practice and for “child safe” blogging practices. He has
more than 20 years experience in both formal and informal education and
13 years experience in team building and leadership training. Darren
has been facilitating workshops for educators in groups of 4 to 300 for
the last 10 years. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference (
http://adifference.blogspot.com).
Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach
Sheryl is a technology/education consultant for the
National Education Association (NEA), the Center for Teaching Quality,
SRI International, the Virginia Community College System, the Virginia
Department of Education, the Miami-Dade Public Schools, and the Alabama
Best Practices Center. She has had several journal articles and book
chapters published, been featured on public broadcasting television and
radio shows, and is a regular presenter at local, state, and national
conferences speaking on topics of homelessness, teacher leadership,
virtual community building, and 21st Century learning initiatives.
Sheryl blogs at 21st Century Collaborative (
http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/).
Will Richardson
Will Richardson is known internationally for his work
with educators and students to understand and implement instructional
technologies and, more specifically, the tools of the Read/Write Web
into their schools, classrooms and communities. A public school
educator for 22 years, Will’s own Weblog ( Weblogg-ed.com) is a primary
resource for the creation and implementation of Weblog technologies on
the K-12 level and is a leading voice for school reform in the context
of the fundamental changes these new technologies are bringing to all
aspects of life. Will is the critically acclaimed authour of the
best-selling book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Tools for
Classrooms (March 2006, Corwin Press).
If you have any questions about any part of this, email one of us:
Darren Kuropatwa
Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach
Will Richardson
Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the
blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d
really like people to do that 
) or link back to this post (published simultaneously on all our blogs). Please tag all related posts with k12online06.
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AUTHOR: Catch Up Lady
EMAIL: kickbo@gmail.com
IP: 207.67.146.246
URL: http://www.catchupblog.typepad.com
DATE: 09/07/2006 03:13:28 PM
That looks really interesting - glad to see that "Web 2.0" is getting rolled out everywhere! Any idea what will be covered in the Srand B: Obstacles portion? Seems like there are so many great sites and games geared towards kids of all ages that it could be an interesting component to really dig into from a teaching perspective. I like NetSmartz for younger kids and resources like Cybertipline for older children and adults. :D
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Making Baskets
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Coloradoan
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 08/31/2006 09:05:39 AM
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I've got a piece in today's Fort Collins Coloradoan on fear and writing and basketball. The best part is that my students were a big piece of this column -- I basically gave myself their first writing assignment and was able to model for them what I wanted them to do -- take an experience from their lives and relate it to writing -- while getting their feedback and participation in my process. Real life workshopping in action.
Some days, all the bits of the universe line up -- those are the best teaching days.
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AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.159
URL:
DATE: 09/04/2006 05:49:21 AM
Your piece was interesting, Bud.
It will be interesting to see how the district reacts to your charge that many students who have "never had a successful experience with words and ideas" have somehow been promoted to high school regardless.
I continue to be amazed that students are promoted to and through high school with major deficiencies in basic, essential skills.
On another note, did you see the 2006 ACT math score for OCHS? Yikes!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Theresa Gray
EMAIL: tgray@e2ccb.org
IP: 168.169.140.156
URL: http://writingframeworks.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/31/2006 12:30:44 PM
Great article! I just finished a two-day workshop with teachers on the 6 + 1 Traits and one of the things we talked about was teachers taking risks by sharing writing with their students. Big surprise - not too many teachers actually write WITH their students!! I plan to share this article when risk-taking comes up again - thanks!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Error Correction
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 08/29/2006 04:01:00 PM
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I was pleased to join a bunch of folks over at EdTechTalk Sunday Edition #61 the other night. It was an interesting hour of odds 'n ends. I do need to make a correction to soemthing I said during the webcast, though. The National Writing Project has 190 local sites, not the 70 that I stated.
The blogger regrets the error.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Being Helpful
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 08/29/2006 03:55:19 PM
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I've learned as a teacher that the more I help others, the less time I have to complete my assigned daily work. Pretty much, school systems are set up to punish the helpful. I hope that's not intentional.
Pretty much, the more I teach, the more I realize that I've got to close my door and block the window if I want to get my work done. And I hate that idea very, very much, but I find myself more and more in that mindset.
How do y'all deal with that? How do you keep your door open, yourself available to help, and still get everything done?
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AUTHOR: Brandi Caldwell
EMAIL: caldwellb@mtnbrook.k12.al.us
IP: 71.8.32.6
URL: http://mtnbrookseniors.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/04/2006 11:39:50 AM
We are fortunate enough to have a school-based tech coordinator. The problem is that she is not always talking "teacher" language. You have a variety of learning styles with our faculty. Some are relatively hesitant technology users while others are fairly geeky users. I am a geeky user therefore teachers come to me to get pointers because I don't speak geek to them. I do have to shut the door. I have started making "lesson plans" for my planning time. I just tell them that I would be glad to help, but I have several goals to accomplish in the period. I have started suggesting to department heads that if they will give me thirty minutes at their department meeting, I can answer all of the questions at once. Nobody takes me up on that. Of course, eventually I end up resenting the tech coordinator a bit since she gets paid to do the training. As long as I can give a justifiable reason as to why I am too busy at the moment, I don't feel so guilty.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
EMAIL:
IP: 67.121.244.250
URL:
DATE: 09/03/2006 10:38:12 PM
Have office hours. I know this is more of a college thing but we have it set up so that we can do be helpful at certain times and get the 5 billion other things we need to do done at other times.
This won't work for emergencies but I might organize things some, and it might help you not feel so guilty saying no. You can only do so much and still remain effective.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tracy Fowler
EMAIL: tracyfowler@sd54.k12.il.us
IP: 67.162.48.192
URL: http://backinaclassroom.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/30/2006 08:57:09 PM
Hi Bud,
Seems like we're all in the same untenable situation. Six years ago I worked as a special ed teacher in a jr. high. I spent most of my prep periods helping teachers with technology, did staff development at lunch, had a web club and a student tech help club. While I did get a VERY small stipend for the web club, the rest was on my time. I got to the point where I was working a job and a half.
When the opportunity arose to go into technology full-time, I jumped at it because it's my passion, and because the position still allowed my to work with kids. I'm now back in the classroom teaching 5th grade because there's been a 3/4 reduction in full-time technology facilitators in my district. While I'm grateful to be employed, and lucky to be in a district with ample hardware, I'm again in your situation.
The day before school was to start, when I was scrambling to get the final touches on my room, I had three people asking me for technology support. I finally got to a point where I had to say no. For those of us tech evangelists who love technology and understand its power as a teaching and learning tool, it's difficult to refuse any one's request for assistance. However, there does come a point where we need to balance the needs of our class (what we're paid to do well) and our families and home life, with the desire and joy that comes with seeing other's technical skills grow. For me, new to a grade level, my answer has to be "no" more often than "let me help". It is an incredibly difficult decision to make; collaborating with teachers is what I enjoyed most about my former position!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 72.2.13.42
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 08/30/2006 05:33:05 AM
My solution was simple, work longer hours. I try to be at school around 7 (we start with kids at 9). During this time I do all of my planning, gathering resources, etc. During the day when my kids are out of the room at phys ed, home ec, etc. I try to do any marking (as people flow in and out of my room looking for stuff, help, advice, etc. and then in the evenings I try to keep up with kids blogs, wiki work, etc. Not a perfect solution by any means, but one I live with...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/29/2006 10:33:35 PM
So it sounds like I need to leave the classroom to be helpful? Interesting.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kelly Dumont
EMAIL: kdumont@mac.com
IP: 166.70.28.130
URL: http://theeducationalmac.com
DATE: 08/29/2006 10:19:15 PM
I too have been out of the classroom a few years now. But one of the reasons that I left the classroom for my current position was due to the fact that I could no longer teach effectively and provide the support the school wanted/needed. I would have teachers coming to or sending students to my classroom several times a day. It came down to the point where I not only had to close my door, but lock it and not answer to knocks so that I could work with my students without interruption. I basically gave up my before and after school planning time to give support to the staff. It became a physical, mental, and emotional drain. The one thing I regret is that I let it affect my classroom as much as I did.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 71.225.57.35
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 08/29/2006 10:02:19 PM
I became a principal because I thought I was actually half-decent at the helping thing. :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tim
EMAIL: tim@assortedstuff.com
IP: 24.255.118.12
URL: http://www.assortedstuff.com
DATE: 08/29/2006 07:55:17 PM
It's hard to find a balance, especially since I knew that by helping my colleagues I was also helping their students.
Eventually, the helping took over and became a full-time job. At first I thought I missed teaching until I realized that I was still a teacher only now with an older (albeit somewhat crankier :-) class.
However, you're not wrong about schools punishing the helpful. I'm lucky to work for a district that recognizes the need to hire extra help for the teachers. Not enough, of course, but certainly more than many systems.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kimberly Moritz
EMAIL: kmoritz@gowcsd.org
IP: 152.163.100.204
URL: http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org
DATE: 08/29/2006 07:51:21 PM
WOW-this post really resonates with me as my teachers start to return to the building in preparation for the school year. I had the luxury all summer of actually completing projects that I start in a reasonable time as opposed to the school year when I look at my computer or desk at around 4:30 pm and see something I started at 8:35 am. Lots of days, people are lined up three deep and I figure I need one of those machines at the deli counter. I've got no answers for you and I'm pretty good at materials and time management. I guess it's a good sign--if no one ever stopped in for anything, we'd have to figure we weren't very approachable. But how often is it something they really could solve on their own if only they applied the energy instead of asking us to solve it? I just figure that my job during the school day is people and I use the couple of hours after most leave and before the evening's sporting event to manage my work load.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Pass
EMAIL: ap@Pass-Ed.com
IP: 70.212.114.29
URL: http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
DATE: 08/29/2006 06:39:19 PM
Bud, Since I'm not in a school everyday I can't answer your question. But I want to point something out to you. You do help other people, myself included, when you blog. Blogging is definitely a part of collaboration and different people choose to collaborate in different ways. I for one very much enjoy your blog and am glad that this is one way that you've chosen to contribute.
Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Writing Is Scary. So're Most Things
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 08/24/2006 10:50:36 PM
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It was a good first day -- the usual blips and excitement. But the second day was better. The first piece of writing that I asked my 10th grade writing students to do for me this year was about a successful writing experience they've had. I didn't define "success," as we're going to be doing that tomorrow when we discuss the standards for the course. I just wanted to get my students thinknig about writing and registered into the classroom Moodle. I also wanted to get a writing sample and to get to know everyone a little better.
What I got was a rude reminder.
For the first day, I was impressed overall with the quality of the writing that I read tonight when I sat down with all of their posts. Some students responded with significant events where they were able to influecne a situation or a person with their writing. Others wrote about a time when they received a good grade for something they had written.
Too many of my students wrote that they had never had a successful writing experience. Ever.
After I read the posts, I went to the gym to sneak in a half hour workout (my first since school started back). I thought on and off about how sad I felt that these students, really bright, capable people, who've overcome lots of difficult hardships, hadn't ever had success with writing.
I guess I forgot how truly hard and scary writing can be.
22, 38, 40, 45, 50, 51
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Post Where I Say I Told You So
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Colorado Edubloggers
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 08/23/2006 09:05:54 PM
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Back in June, I got to meet Karl Fisch and hear what he's up to. I mentioned that folks might want to pay attention. I knew good stuff was coming.
I told you so. (Sorry -- couldn't resist. Not like anyone doubted me. I just like being right.)
If you haven't yet seen "Did You Know?," it's time. I was totally and completely blown away. I'm probably going to show it to my journalism students tomorrow.
And that's just his "back to school" icebreaker. Man, I wish I lived/worked a little bit further south.
What's next, Karl?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rob Banning
EMAIL: rob@digiwalks.com
IP: 68.5.23.96
URL: http://digiwalks.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/03/2006 04:09:17 PM
I have heard all of the stats that Karl quotes but not in such a compelling/moving way. Well done Karl and thank you Bud for point it out.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/23/2006 09:41:41 PM
I wished you lived and worked a little bit further south as well. Hey, we have an IB high school in our district that I bet your wife would love to teach at, and if I couldn't talk you into teaching at Arapahoe we also have an alternative high school. Then again, I would love to be living in Fort Collins (we lived there for a year when we first moved to Colorado, but then got hired down here).
What's next? Gee, I don't know, staff development every 2 to 3 weeks for 49 teachers? Trying to figure out how to find time to read and comment on all their personal blogs - plus keep up with their class blogs? Trying to work the kinks out of our new wireless network? Finding out why some of our students' folders on the server disappeared over the summer? And, oh yeah, my principal thinks he wants me to show that presentation in the gym at Back To School Night next Wednesday - to 1200 or so of my closest friends. I think what's next might be a nervous breakdown . . .
Let me know what your journalism students think of it. The darn presentation has taken on a life of its own. And I have noticed that you like to be right - good thing you usually are.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Self-Promotion
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 08/23/2006 08:53:44 PM
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BODY:
Kimberly was kind enough to mention a piece I wrote that has recently been published. I had meant to mention it -- but then the school year started. (Remember summer? I liked summer.)
She writes:
I read a great article in the September 2006 issue of Classroom Connect’s Newsletter by Bud Hunt entitled
“Blogging for Professional Development”. I’ve been thinking about my
opening day meeting with teachers and wondering how I can succinctly
describe blogging to a varied audience. A very few of my teachers are
still struggling with email. So I’m excited to find Bud’s excellent
article which is in a more traditional format that everyone can
understand. Thanks Bud!
You're quite welcome, Kimberly. Glad to be useful.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: qasim
EMAIL: qasim4isliam@yahoo.com
IP: 62.128.161.114
URL:
DATE: 08/31/2006 10:51:17 AM
SNUT works in the following areas:
* The promotion of teachers’ rights, especially in the current difficult circumstances, where these rights are constantly violated by employers who may fire teachers at a moment’s notice without any justification or any termination allowance;
* The promotion of equal opportunities for lady teachers, who now represent only 1% of all teachers despite the fact that 56% of the country population are women. They are not encouraged by society at large and the school owners’ associations in particular.
* Assistance to teachers with special needs. Differently-abled teachers are not employed in schools despite their talent and knowledge.
* Formulation of national education strategy. SNUT will work with all concerned in the development of a national strategy for education.
In order to realize all these and other visions and ambitions to promote teachers and education in the country, SNUT is seeking to work with EI and its member organisations. SNUT believes membership of EI will give a moral boost to Somali teachers as well as credibility and authority to stand for the rights of teachers everywhere in Somalia. SNUT hopes to exchange views and experiences with other sister organisations.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: qasim
EMAIL: qasim4isliam@yahoo.com
IP: 62.128.161.114
URL:
DATE: 08/31/2006 10:47:32 AM
Equal Rights Publication
What is meant by “salary”?
“Salary” is a regularly paid amount of money, constituting all or part of an employee’s wages, paid on a weekly or less frequent basis, that is not subject to reduction due to the quality or quantity of work performed. This is the general definition in federal law (29 CFR 541.118). Since Wisconsin’s overtime law does not define “salary,” and since Wisconsin’s overtime exemptions are interpreted in a manner consistent with federal interpretation, this is the applicable definition.
Which employees can be paid on a salary basis?
Any employee can be paid on any basis – salary, hourly, commission, piece-rate, flat rate as long as they receive minimum wage for all hours worked in the pay period, and as long as overtime is paid when required . Overtime is usually required at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week. There is a provision in the overtime regulations ( Chapter DWD 274, Wisconsin Administrative Code) that “exempts” employees whose primary duty is administrative, executive, or professional work from overtime requirements. One of the requirements for each of these types of work to meet the exemption is that they are paid on a salary basis.
Not all salaried employees are “exempt.” Employees must meet the definitions in the law in order to be classified as exempt. For more information on these definitions see “Wisconsin Hours of Work and Overtime Law”.
Is there a limit to the number of hours that can be worked by salaried employees?
No. Employers have the right to schedule employees as they feel is necessary. If the employee is not exempt, overtime must be paid for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week. In factories and mercantile establishments employees must have at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in each calendar week, under §103.85, Wisconsin Statutes. The employer can require that employees work extra hours if they are necessary.
If the salary is based on working 45 hours per week, does the employer owe more money if the employee works more than 45 hours?
This depends upon the wage agreement between the employer and the employee. If the employee is exempt (as an executive, administrative employee, or professional), generally no additional pay would be owed unless there is some agreement for additional pay. For non-exempt salaried employees, the employer must pay overtime if the employee works more than 40 hours. They may have to pay additional amounts if it is specified in the agreement that the salary is meant to be compensation for up to 45 hours. Contact the Equal Rights Division for additional information regarding this type of situation.
How is overtime paid for salaried employees who are not exempt from overtime requirements?
Overtime must be paid at time and one-half the regular rate of pay. The “regular rate” is an hourly rate that will change for a salaried employee based upon the number of hours worked in a week. Since salary constitutes wages at straight time for all hours worked, the employer owes an additional half-time for the hours in excess of 40 in a week. An example follows:
Example: A non-exempt employee is paid a salary of $500 per week, and works 50 hours in a given week. Since the agreement is just that the employee will be paid a $500 salary, that sum would cover any number of hours worked. The regular rate for this week is the salary ($500) divided by the 50 hours worked, or $10.00. To pay overtime, the employer would divide the regular rate in half ($10.00 divided by 2, or $5.00), and then multiply that result by the 10 overtime hours. The overtime due for this week would be $50. The employee’s gross wages for the week, including overtime, would be $550 (the $500 salary plus $50 in overtime pay).
Can the employer deduct from salary for partial days of absence?
No. Deductions may not be made for partial days of absence, regardless of the reason.
Can the employer make deductions from salary if the employee is sick?
Yes, but only if the deduction is made in conjunction with a bona fide sick pay policy that provides payment for absences that occur because of illness or accident. If the employer has a sick pay policy, but the employee is not eligible for benefits under the policy for the first 90 days of employment, the employer may deduct for full days of absence due to illness during that first 90-day period. If the policy offers five sick days per year and the employee has used those days, deductions may be made for full days of absence due to illness after the sick pay has been used.
Can the employer prorate the employee’s salary when the business is shut down for part of a week due to a holiday or for another reason? What about when the business closes for a full week?
If work is not made available to employees paid on a salary basis for part of a workweek, the employer may not reduce the week’s salary. If work is not made available for an entire workweek, however, no salary needs to be paid.
Policies/Pay:
Payment of Wages
Policies - Compensation/Pay
Wages are paid weekly for nonexempt employees and monthly for exempt employees. Exempt employees are paid on a salary basis as specified by the Fair Labor Standard Act.
Paydays are usually every Friday for nonexempt employees and the last workday of the month for exempt employees. If a normal payday falls on a Laboratory recognized holiday, employee payment will be made and pay advice notices will be distributed the prior workday. The Laboratory does not release paychecks prior to the Payroll Office's announced schedule.
Direct deposit
All employees are expected to use direct deposit to either a savings or checking account at their bank of choice. To activate the direct deposit, the employee must complete a Direct Deposit Authorization Form (also available from the Payroll Department), attach a voided personal check, and return it to the Payroll Department. Due to banking requirements, it may take up to two weeks for the direct deposit to be activated. During this time, employees should pick up their checks in the Payroll Department.
Pay advice notices
A pay advice notice is mailed by Lab mail to each employee each pay period to employees. Employees may also view their statements online using the Employee Self-Service web page.
Questions regarding pay
Employees who think they have been improperly paid should first check with the Payroll Office to discuss calculation questions. If there are further questions, the employee should discuss the issue with his/her supervisor. If, after this discussion, the employee believes that incorrect pay has been provided, the employee should follow the steps outlined in the internal complaint procedure.
Date policy last updated: June 2005
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/29/2006 09:50:12 PM
I'd love to share the article with you, but it isn't available online. Yet.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Pass
EMAIL: ap@Pass-Ed.com
IP: 70.223.120.202
URL: http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
DATE: 08/24/2006 05:09:44 PM
Hi Bud:
I don't see a link to your article. Can you please post one. I'd love to read it. I always enjoy reading your blog.
Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Pause
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/22/2006 10:34:18 PM
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BODY:
Tomorrow is the first day of my fifth year of teaching high school. I guess if I survive this year, I've dodged the "new teacher" bullet. Right now, I'm trying to breathe calm breaths, eager to meet new students and to re-greet the old.
Here goes . . . .
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.41.2
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/23/2006 04:23:33 PM
Well, as I read this, your first day is over. I am sure it was a wonderful one! There is always such a feeling of hope the first day. Anything and everything is still possible.
Now, if I can just remember that when I have my first day next Tuesday!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amy Hendrickson
EMAIL: amy_may_22@yahoo.com
IP: 172.144.231.32
URL: http://northernsun.wordpress.com/
DATE: 08/23/2006 06:41:04 AM
I always feel the same anticipation. My cousin sent me one of those emails this morning with pictures of cute babies ... I think it was a famous quote on there. Part of it said,
"Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough - Give the world the best you have anyway."
That's what teachers are about. Happy 1st Day!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rebecca
EMAIL: eversr@winthrop.edu
IP: 208.104.133.222
URL: http://rbarr.typepad.com/teachuteachme/
DATE: 08/23/2006 06:00:48 AM
Ok,yesterday was my 41 first day of class. That certainly makes me feel old. . .but I still love it as much as I did the very first day --- I wish you the same.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 151.196.188.231
URL: http://academicaesthetic.com
DATE: 08/23/2006 04:23:12 AM
I'm sure your first day will be great - you do some awesome lessons with your students.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Noon
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 209.112.150.112
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org
DATE: 08/23/2006 03:22:01 AM
Have a great day!
I just had my 24 first day of school, and I still get butterflies.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Opting out of Learning?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/18/2006 01:26:14 PM
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Clarence asks an interesting question in regards to getting permission for technological tools:
Do we ask the permission of parents before we give their kids pencils
and paper and they give us their thoughts on other topics? If we are
arguing that these tools are basic, and the use of them should be
evenly distributed throughout society, should people be able to opt out
of their use? Is that not like opting out of math class?
I think he's right. What do you think?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bob Calder
EMAIL: b_calder@bellsouth.net
IP: 65.5.128.20
URL: http://joancalder.com
DATE: 08/28/2006 05:26:39 AM
Ah, the all-important AUP. How could we live without it?
The guy who realized that every student already had a MySpace site and scared them into setting them private had a fabulous idea.
Safety is always about numbers. I would think that most computer professionals have already gone to read Danah Boyd ( http://www.danah.org )on the MySpace controversey. I'm so glad I don't have middle school students!
Maybe when this NCLB stuff is all over we will have a more risk management oriented business. Decoded, that means we won't be needing 30,000 teachers in our district making sure 300,000 students and 600,000 parents fill out a form that everybody understands already in order to give a school board lawyer a way to disclaim responbibility once every two years.
Has everybody seen "Me You and Everyone We Know"? It's apt even though the child is something of a prodigy.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rob Banning
EMAIL: rob@digiwalks.com
IP: 69.17.97.66
URL: http://digiwalks.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/23/2006 10:02:49 AM
The approach should be one of informing parents of the educational benefits associated the technology rather than seeking permission from the parents. As the teacher, you are the education professional – a point that is often forgotten by parents, administrators, and even teachers themselves.
Unfortunately in this litigious world we are required to cover our behinds. Just as doctors require informed consent, we should not be put off by the opportunity to discuss our teaching techniques with our parents. If done well, this discussion will result in an ally in your quest to teach.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: aquiram
EMAIL: aquiram@yumaed.org
IP: 70.36.64.182
URL: http://aquiram.wordpress.com
DATE: 08/19/2006 08:39:49 PM
What do you consider the tool? The computer? The Internet? The software? Our school policy puts computers under the "equipment and materials" clause in terms of damage to property. Word processing, encyclopedias, and other software are used by students freely, as they are the true tools being talked about. I have an acceptable use policy for students to use the Internet. There are still parents out there that don't want their children exposed to that technology for whatever reason. I liken it to permission slips for field trips and controversial movies/books/topics that usually also require parent permission. With the vast resources (positive and negative) out there and students usually two steps ahead of us, it is hard to police something sufficiently for those parents that would just prefer to have that control.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Kain
EMAIL: algona81@yahoo.com
IP: 68.3.6.149
URL: http://algona81.edublogs.org/
DATE: 08/18/2006 08:53:39 PM
You can ask for permission; however, the parents no longer have the power to grant it. My daughter attends a private school and plays on the volleyball team, whose coach just held his beginning-of- the-season meeting with parents and players. One of the new rules this year is that the coach "reserves the right" (his words) to inspect players' MySpace sites. Players who have inappropriate content on MySpace may be subject to sanctions. As a result, the players went home and set their MySpace profiles to private.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Matt Clausen
EMAIL: mjclausen@gmail.com
IP: 69.144.3.3
URL: http://blogschools.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/18/2006 04:01:05 PM
We do ask for permission if what students create with pencil and paper are to go before a wider audience (local newspaper, art show, whatever).
In my class, all final versions of formal writing must be word processed. There is no opting out of the tool (barring, naturally, an IEP-level concern).
However, if what they write is to be public in nature (blog, wiki, website, or more traditional avenue of publication), then I do seek parent permission, not for the use of the tool but for the publication.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Noon
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 209.112.191.162
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org
DATE: 08/18/2006 03:48:40 PM
I think that the tool analogy breaks down here. If we think of it as an environment, we might say that if we get permission for field trips, we should do the same with the internet.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Community Schooling
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 08/18/2006 09:41:03 AM
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David Jakes gets it right when he writes about who should have the ultimate say in who gets to decide whether or not certain schools should have access to particular tools:
The community makes the decision.
Yes, it’s probably the only answer that makes sense-the values, the
beliefs, and the moral views that the community holds determines the
call. Schools are responsible to the communities they serve, and that
responsibility is managed by the board of education. If the school
board directs the IT coordinator or the IT staff to block such sites,
then I’m good with that. Again, it is my belief that the philosophy of
what to block/not block must come from the school board and should not
originate from a set of personal beliefs of an IT director or
coordinator.
Now, that's not to say that the community shouldn't have all (or at least the best possible) information and opinions from educators and parents and others when it comes time to make such decisions. Or that the community will always be right. But we've got mechanisms in place in our communities to ensure the rights of the minority aren't trampled when these types of decisions get made.
Allowing the community to be involved in such decision making isn't easy, nor does the ideal of everyone coming together to agree on what's best for a group of students always work; nor do the mechanisms always work in our favor, if at all. Responsible and intelligent adults who have the best interests of students in mind often disagree when it comes to what's best for schools. And losing a battle always sucks, no matter what side you're on.
In fact, it'd be far easier if one person in an office somewhere gets to make all of the decisions about what gets into schools and what doesn't. But it'd be wrong, even if I was the person who got to have the final word.
In an abrupt possible topic change, and perhaps the first openly political statement I've made on this blog (I try to be very careful with those, as I'm not a politician), DOPA is a bad piece of legislation that is being debated and decided largely by people who have no interest in dialoguing with those of us in the education community. It's the perfect example of how a "representative" body (i.e. the U.S. House of Representatives) has mistakenly identified a "problem" that isn't and is attempting to craft a solution that ignores the needs and voices of the community that it will affect. Do we need to help children be safe on the Internet? Certainly. Does DOPA help? Nope.
I hope the U.S. Senate does a better job of listening to the voices of our communities and realizes that this is strongly misguided legislation that will solve no problems and will actually create more problems, as "social networks" will move into the underground and we won't be able to help students and parents and families, the communities that we serve, to successfully and safely navigate them.
Whew. It felt good to get that off my chest. So ends the political soapboxing.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Visions
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 08/18/2006 08:58:30 AM
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I love this idea:
Next month, the Sci Fi Channel is hosting a kick-off event in conjunction with Wired's NextFest to announce their new public affairs initiative. Visions For Tomorrow
is a multi-platform, national public affairs campaign to "inspire
individuals, organizations, and policymakers to meet the growing
challenges of the future and advance the idea that individuals can
affect positive change. The campaign launch will focus on the
production and use of energy – one of today’s most critical issues."
The over-arching idea behind VFT is that small changes now can result in a large impact on the future. Or, in the words of the Mahatma, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."
What changes do you want? What are your visions for tomorrow? Here are some of mine, in no particular order.
Visit Josh's blog to see his visions. They're worth a look. Then, go and post some of your own. Wouldn't this make a great recurring writing prompt for students? This idea reminds me of one of my favorite sound bites of all time:
- Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
US anthropologist & popularizer of anthropology (1901 - 1978)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Elona
EMAIL: ehartjes2@sympatico.ca
IP: 65.94.130.203
URL: http://www.teachersatrisk.com
DATE: 08/22/2006 08:37:08 PM
I found this post most timely. I have recently started to blog because I wanted to share what I have learned as a teacher of at risk kids. I teach teenage kids who are disconnected from home and disconnected from school. Many of my students see no future and live without goals from one minute to the next. What a waste. My goal is to help as many kids as I can find a connection by helping them find realistic goals. Every year I help a few and that keeps me going.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Potential
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/15/2006 02:36:22 PM
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I really like Alicia's description of the first day of school:
I looked over the balcony, down at
the kids, thinking that those were the students I would get to know
over the next nine months. Months from now I will look down and know
who they were, but for a few moments they were just a mass of khakis
and polos, tucked in. They looked sharp. They were potential.
Potential is what we've all got a lot of right now; it's just nice to be reminded sometimes.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 138.89.28.237
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 08/17/2006 09:31:34 AM
What an exciting time of year --- As I get ready to head back to work after a three week vacation, this post got me back in the correct frame of mind -- It's about the kids... Thanks, Bud.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogger might be my tool
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/15/2006 10:11:08 AM
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According to TechCrunch, Blogger is finally updating its blogging tool. That's a good thing, as all I really need for Blogger to do that it doesn't do right now is tags. According to the review, tags are coming, as is the ability to "privatize" content. (Man, someday I need to figure out the rules for what should be private and what should be public. Anybody got that one figured out and crystallized into something teachable?)
Anybody know if folks will be able to update older Blogger blogs to the new beta versions? I tried to figure out how to do that last night, but couldn't seem to figure it out. UPDATE: According to Blogger, eventually users will be able to switch over from their current Blogger dashboard. I hope that comes soon.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/16/2006 09:37:00 AM
Thanks for the link to your guidelines, Liz. Very good stuff. Douglas -- very nice and brief gut level definitions -- I'll probably use those at some point.
Beth -- you need to create a new account with a Google Account to see the new features. You'll notice subtle changes in the dashboard, but they're there.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Beth Ritter-Guth
EMAIL: bguth@lccc.edu
IP: 72.92.102.241
URL: http://collegeenglish.wikispaces.com
DATE: 08/16/2006 09:17:18 AM
Thanks, Bud! I went to the site, and I don't see anything different. What I am I doing wrong?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Douglas
EMAIL: palisade14@gmail.com
IP: 66.109.214.154
URL: http://www.coronerstories.com/
DATE: 08/15/2006 10:59:35 AM
Print out the hard copy.
If you leave it on your desk when class starts thats public.
If you cover it up with other stuff when class starts then it might be private.
If you put it in a drawer it's definitely private.
If you take it home with you that night it belongs on an anonymous blog.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Liz Ditz
EMAIL: ponytrax@batnet.com
IP: 75.18.187.242
URL: http://lizditz.typepad.com
DATE: 08/15/2006 10:53:25 AM
Teach blogging principles. Mine are here with lots and lots of links to other examples.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Quick Thought
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/14/2006 03:50:25 PM
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Isn't Blackboard a
commercially operated Internet website [sic] that-
- (i) allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and
- (ii) offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger.
If so, perhaps they'd like to spend some of their time and energy combating DOPA?
Just a thought.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tadge
EMAIL: obrient@frointernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL: http://wiki.monroe.edu
DATE: 08/24/2006 08:09:11 PM
I can't believe you posted my thoughts. I swear the politicians have no idea what they are trying to do. They created the darn web, then told us to put it in all of the schools, and now they are writing legislation to get rid of the reasons to use it. Amazing how this works.
Keep on writing.
Tadge
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Chaucer's Blog
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 08/12/2006 11:26:46 PM
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I discovered that Geoffrey Chaucer's blog has been added to the fictive blog section of my wiki. This is an impressive text, certainly a labor of love, and well worth five minutes of your precious surfing time. (Not that y'all ever surf the Internet anymore, of course.)
If you know of any other blogs purportedly by people who aren't real, please add them to the list.
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TITLE: Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog
URL: http://dl1.yukoncollege.yk.ca/talog2/2006/08/25#a1031
IP: 199.247.245.1
BLOG NAME: TAL Weblog
DATE: 12/13/2006 04:16:45 PM
Yes, he doth have a blog, and here it is.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: He Says It All
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 08/10/2006 10:31:48 PM
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Doug writes (and I'm simply mirroring, as he says it so well):
The permissibility (or not) of specific data in school reform
initiatives is a bold imposition of power and politics on children and
their teachers. Data-driven recommendations for change will be useful
when we all agree on whose data counts, and when we reach consensus on
appropriate interventions. And that will happen when hell freezes over,
an event that appears increasingly improbable.
Yep. Read the rest of his post for the example that he uses to highlight his point. It's a doozy.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Books. Memes. Word.
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/09/2006 11:21:23 PM
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Chris "tagged me" with this meme. Since I am a language arts teacher, and I need a distraction from another project, I thought I'd take a crack at it.
1. One book that changed your life? Just one? How about Better than Life by Daniel Pennac. His "Rights of Readers
2. One book you have read more than once?
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
4. One book that made you laugh? White Noise by Don DeLillo. Yes, it made me think and question and write too, but it's also just really funny, satirical and spot on.
5. One book that made you cry? I'm going way back to the first book I remember making me cry -- A Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson. I read it when I was in sixth grade. Wasn't
expecting what happened. Was completely blown away. That was the first
book that made me cry... there have been a lot since then.
6. One book you wish had been written? "Hamlet" or "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" -- heck, if you're going to dream, dream big. (O.k. -- I'd "settle" for Moral Leadership by Thomas Sergiovanni or The Schools Our Children Deserve by Alfie Kohn.)
7. One book you wish had never been written? I can't say that I want stuff unwritten. Everybody gets to write -- now, if I could unread something, well, that's another matter.
8. One book you are currently reading? I've got three books going right now. The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler, and The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. The first two keep me distracted at the gym, the third is sitting on the nightstand.
9. One book you have been meaning to read? The Story of Science by Joy Hakim. I'm halfway through it.
10. Now tag five people. I'll tag SLA teacher Marcie Hull, fellow principal Steve Poling, charter school planner Amy Hendrickson, DesignShare's Christian Long (once he gets back from his travels), and fellow English teacher Bud Hunt.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: They Keep Coming
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/09/2006 04:12:10 PM
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Teachade is another entry in the social networking for teachers category. If you're so motivated hop on over and give them a looksee.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/09/2006 08:01:17 PM
I didn't. Too many memberships right now. But I'm paying attention.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 68.32.231.94
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 08/09/2006 07:37:54 PM
Did you join it?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: While I'm Waiting . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Elgg
CATEGORY: Moodle
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/07/2006 09:42:53 PM
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for all those files to transfer, I thought I'd elaborate on what I'm thinking about in regards to creating a school social network, or at least one that I might use in my classes. Basically, everything that I think about right now as a teacher passes through the lens of me being a language arts teacher who needs to expose his students to as many authentic reading and writing activities as I possibly can, while struggling to meet the requirements of my state standards, benchmarks, and standardized test questions.
They need to read, read, read and write, write, write. I've got to help my students master grammar, vocabulary, and all of the detail parts of writing, too. But mostly, I've got to create literate students out of people who, for one reason or another, have not had success in previous schools. And I've got to do that in nine week chunks with very little continuity from quarter to quarter, as students are constantly coming and going from our program for a multitude of legitimate and, occasionally, quite bogus reasons.
Can a social network, centered around reading and writing, help me to do that?
Well, maybe. What if there was a member of our network (and by "our" here I'm referring to the students currently enrolled in my classes) named "Word of the Day" or "Wordsmith." (I really wish her name was "NYTimes.com Word of the Day," but she doesn't have an RSS feed.) If every student read the posts from "Word of the Day," and wrote their own posts discussing the word or how it's used or even writing about how it's not a word they'll ever need to know, then I'm accomplishing two things:
1. My students are being exposed to some new vocabulary.
2. They're writing about the words, which is one of the best ways that I know of to put a word into your active vocabulary -- actually use it. (Of course, I'm also using technology as a shoehorn to integrate some more traditional vocabulary instruction into my teaching -- which might be a good thing, and it might not be.
Maybe it's late at night, and maybe I'm reaching here, but I'm just beginning to explore this idea some -- I'd sure be eager to hear your responses. Another thought -- isn't a book club a community of readers who are reading and discussing the same book? So within our network, our book clubs can co-exist -- with their conversations being accessible to the entire class when and if necessary. And everything comes to me, the teacher, who is often simply a more experienced member of the learning community. And the software will/can/should reflect that.
Am I heading out into LaLaland? Are you already using a social network to build a community of learners?
My wheels are turning. I hope for good reason.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 216.17.228.90
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/09/2006 01:47:10 PM
Thanks for the feedback, y'all. Lots of interesting points, specifically from Brad. Brad, I'm not sure that I even want to do this, was mostly thinking out loud -- although if I did, your approach of building a database is probably a good way to go.
I don't think students will "learn" three words a day -- probably, they'll see four or five a week and will retain those that they use. One concern I have, like you, is that I don't see a really super database of words -- the right words, words that others have found to be the "essentials" that exists online in a way that would be importable into an online school community. If you're offering your database, perhaps that's a place to start. I don't really know that I want my students to be spending lots of time with database management, though. I was simply thinking about ways to expose them to new words on a regular basis in a way that might engage them.
Still thinking.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: readerdiane
EMAIL: petersd@newberg.k12.or.us
IP: 63.24.19.210
URL:
DATE: 08/09/2006 10:41:49 AM
Depending upon the maturity of your students' reading levels, but you could set up a literature blog asking questions about setting, characters, themes, and conflicts.I had my students work in literature circles and also blog the answers to some similiar questions. The longer the project went on, the more indepth the comments to each other's blogs became. "Read/Write web"
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.167
URL:
DATE: 08/09/2006 12:02:01 AM
Bud, I like your intent here; vocabulary is clearly important to reading and writing. Your approach, however, has some inherent limitations:
1) Even if you use three links, the students are still only learning three words a day.
2) The words may be completely irrelevant; for example, the last two words at Wordsmith.org were bibliomancy and arithmancy. These are probably not the most useful words for your students to acquire.
3) The words may be already known to some of your students, in which case, the lesson may be of little value.
If you're really trying to "shoehorn" technology into the project, another approach would be to create a database (it could be as simple as an Excel file) of vocabulary that is appropriately challenging to your audience. It would be trivial to use this database to create hyperlinks to related words, to a Google define: operation, to dictionary.reference.com, or to all of the above.
Students could build and maintain this database, augmenting it with definitions and usage samples as time allowed.
I've got a starter database of a few thousand words that I've created; if you want it, it's yours.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Milt Rehberg
EMAIL: milt.rehberg@gmail.com
IP: 67.185.214.91
URL: http://marching-to-a-different-beat.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/08/2006 01:06:44 PM
I think you're definitely onto something really good. I love your idea of the book club discussion. In my social studies class I want to give students the opportunity to read a book like Amistad when we are talking about slavery, and yet I don't have all the time I need in class to do this. Having a wiki discussion group, or forum or someother social network opportunity, the students could have some meaningful dialogue with each other. I'm just getting started in all of this conversation of learning/Web2.0, please write/link about what you end up doing.
by the way, I followed your link. Great wiki for how you are doing blogging in your classroom.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bill Fitzgerald
EMAIL: bill@funnymonkey.com
IP: 67.160.162.39
URL: http://openacademic.org
DATE: 08/08/2006 07:32:31 AM
Hello, Bud,
One way to accomplish this exact goal using Elgg:
1. Create a "Word of the Day" community.
2. One person in the class is assigned the responsibility of creating an initial post that gives the word of the day -- this could be a standard word/part of speech/definition/sentence structure, or something as simple as a hyperlink to the definition.
3. At a specified time during the class, students respond to the word, either with their own blog post or as comments on the original post. I like doing an exercise like this to start a class, as I've found it helps focus students on the start of class.
4. Every two weeks (or so), instead of getting a new word, students write a flash fiction assignment incorporating all the words from the last two weeks.
Over time, this will generate some good work with vocabulary, and with students being exposed to the words in different contexts.
Cheers,
Bill
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jeff Utecht
EMAIL: thinkingstick@gmail.com
IP: 61.129.106.134
URL: http://www.thethinkingstick.com
DATE: 08/08/2006 01:31:39 AM
Sounds good to me Bud! I'm following your thinking on creating these social networks. There has to be ways to use it. The EdBloggerNews site that Will Richardson set up to follow Edbloggers in a digg like format got me thinking of setting up a site like that for my students. Not only could students write on their blog, but then they could vote for who they thought had the most in-depth, thought provoking writing and promote that to the top of the list. Just another way to make these social-networks flourish. You can read my Lala post here:
http://jeff.scofer.com/thinkingstick/?p=269
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I get Elgg. Now.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Elgg
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 08/07/2006 09:12:15 PM
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One of my dabbles over the summer that I've spent mostly offline was to join an Elgg community set up by the folks over at Worldbridges. (Specifically, I think it was Alex and Arvind's idea. Good idea, gentlemen.) The commmunity, open to all y'all, is a playground for talking about teaching, technology, and modeling how to create a social network of teachers using Elgg, a piece of software that I didn't really care all that much for.
Until now. I'm beginning to get how useful the tool might can be, particularly in that it's very dynamic -- participants in the community can build spaces and groups, while an administrator, I think, can maintain control when necessary. It's kind of like a wiki for community building, where everyone can help out. I also like the different levels of publication available with the software, as I know that not everything that I ask my students to do should be 100 percent public.
I'm still exploring and experimenting, but I'm really beginning to think that a tool like this has lots of potential at my school, specifically since so many of my students use these types of communities to maintain relationships outside of school. I wonder if I can create a successful social network that centers around education and learning.
I've seen other people have success doing so, so I'm really starting to think that I might can. Now that Elgg is beginning to be integrated with Moodle, I really think I've got a suite of tools that I can use to do some pretty cool stuff. Maybe. Again, I'm still exploring, but I think it's doable. I've gotten to the point where it's time to try out a few ideas and see if I can make something that I can use.
Tonight, I'm off to find out. My FTP program is busily sending files onto some repurposed server space, and I've purchased a couple of new domain names.
Let the experiment begin.
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AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 138.89.28.237
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 08/11/2006 08:21:37 PM
Hey Bud,
I love that we're beginning to impress you with Elgg's potential. I keep going back and forth on blogging platforms but I really, really like Elgg's functionality. I look forward to watching it develop and the work with Moodle progress.
Cheers, Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom
EMAIL: woodward98@comcast.net
IP: 151.199.193.142
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher
DATE: 08/08/2006 01:41:38 PM
I think I'm headed in the same direction. I was fooling around with the Apple server blogging software and I've had no luck getting it to do what I want. Even simple comment moderation has been a big hassle.
I was thinking about giving Elgg a try. Please keep me/us posted on your progress there.
Tom
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Getting Involved
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 08/04/2006 08:38:15 AM
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Brian offers a really positive way to do something about DOPA for those folks who only have a few minutes to spare. I've been delaying taking action here at home -- and that's pretty much inexcusable. I'm going to fire off some letters. I hope you will, too. In fact, I'm guessing that you already have -- and that I'm the one who's dragging his feet.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 216.17.228.90
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/09/2006 01:56:02 PM
I have a real problem with using the classroom as a "ready audience for making political statements." We've got to be really careful with the messages that we send to and through our students. We're entrusted to provide education to everybody, and oftentimes, that means leaving some politics at the schoolhouse gate.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Pass
EMAIL: ap@Pass-Ed.com
IP: 70.212.115.217
URL: http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
DATE: 08/05/2006 03:22:23 PM
Here's a controversial topic: As teachers we have a ready audience for making political statements. Not only can we write letters to politicians and policymakers, we can encourage our students to do the same. However, if we are going to educate and not simply politicize we must be ready to accept that our students will sometimes disagree with us and therefore support opposing positions.
Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/blogger.html
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Listening, Too
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 08/03/2006 11:12:24 AM
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I neglected to mention that I've been listening to lots of great podcast content while I've been offline. Thanks to all of you who are producing honest and engaging educational content during these summer months. You've been keeping my head in the game, so to speak. I'll be returning to the microphone soon to discuss my plans for the coming school year.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: So Begins August
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Moodle
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/03/2006 11:03:09 AM
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It's been a quiet week month in Lake W here in Colorado. Went away for most of the month of July, up to some very important work. We had oceans to explore and mountains to climb and roller coasters and Ferris wheels to conquer. Been an adventuresome summer, complete with two plane trips with a 19-month old.
I'm invincible. Right.
Looks like it's been a pretty crazy summer online, too. The US House passed DOPA. Blackboard patented online learning. Golly, maybe I'm not so invincible. Maybe none of us are.
I'm beginning to gear up for the fall, and I'm starting with an upgrade to Moodle 1.6. I will never not teach with Moodle, when it makes sense to use it, and I'm curious to see how the blogging implementation worked out.
The Budtheteacher.com host, GoDaddy, doesn't have the right software to support the upgrade there, and they're not in a hurry to get it, either, so I'm moving my school's Moodle over to the OldeSchoolNews.com server, hosted by the wonderful folks at Bluehost. They have dealt with half a dozen phone calls from me this morning as I've been moving database files and student data and whatnot. If you need a host, consider Bluehost. Seriously.
I'll be returning to regular posting here soon, as I get back into the swing of things. While I haven't been writing much lately, I've been reading a great deal. You might notice some new blogs over in the sidebar -- they're worth a look. I'm sure there'll be plenty of new voices to discover as more and more teachers begin to blog, both for themselves and with their students.
All those new voices, though, are troublesome, in a way. I feel, and I know I'm not alone in this, that the community is far too large to keep a handle on. More and more, I'm depending on others to filter their local nodes and networks so that I can get a feel for the good stuff.
It's getting crowded out here, and that's a good thing. But we've got to make sure we continue to carve out spaces where our students and ourselves can be heard and not get lost in the noise of the Internet.
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AUTHOR: Jesse Cravens
EMAIL: jesse.cravens@gmail.com
IP: 65.194.30.212
URL: http://courses.bmsn.org
DATE: 08/24/2006 06:33:03 PM
hey - Bud
I was reading about your experiences with Moodle and bluehost.
I have 24 students and I have been experiencing some trouble with CPU maxes.
The guys at bluehost have told me that I need to upgrade to a virtual private server,
or dedicated - for only 24 students??
Have you experienced these CPU maxes? Similar drupal issue here: http://drupal.org/node/46707
Do you do anything to optimize moodle? Do you use the default install?
How many students do you usually have on simultaneously?
Jesse Cravens
courses.bmsn.org
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@gmail.com
IP: 218.186.147.209
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/06/2006 08:02:17 AM
BlueHost just keeps getting better. They even have live support 24/7, and live chat so I can get help here in Singapore without having to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. Gotta like that.
Good to see you back online. Loved the photos of your daughter and the sea.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL:
IP: 24.178.71.212
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 08/03/2006 03:18:27 PM
Oh, I have Bluehost and I LOVE them! Couldn't be happier with them. I hope your experience will be as good.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Back -- and Gone Again
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 07/05/2006 11:28:02 AM
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We safely returned from the Atlantic Ocean and are about to head into the Colorado mountains for a week or so of fun. Meanwhile, most everyone else is at NECC. While I'm bummed to miss that conference, I'm feeling good about taking some time to spend with the family.
Luckily, I know the good stuff will make in into the blogosphere. Take good notes, y'all. I'm counting on a full report waiting in my aggregator when I return.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Mission Accomplished
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 06/26/2006 06:28:37 PM
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She loved it. So did I. More to explore. So little time.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Weapon of Mass Disturbance
EMAIL: rldemille@comcast.net
IP: 24.218.239.241
URL: http://weaponofmassdisturbance.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/04/2006 05:57:06 AM
How'd you find a beach worth going to that has so few bodies on it?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: elementaryhistoryteacher
EMAIL: teachingsocialstudies@consultant.com
IP: 68.219.165.145
URL: http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/01/2006 07:13:16 AM
You need to enlarge that photo and frame it professionally.....That is a pic you will be so grateful for one day. Too adorable!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ms Cornelius
EMAIL: Head_Ape@hotmail.com
IP: 70.237.220.177
URL: http://shrewdnessofapes.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/30/2006 01:23:40 PM
How wonderful! My husband was sent on a business trip to California right before our daughter's first birthday, and he would have missed it. I secretly got on a plane and took her out there. She stood on a beach on her first birthday, her little eyes ablaze with excitement and the ocean breeze blowing her curls. It was awesome!
Enjoy all the moments! They are too fleeting!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@gmail.com
IP: 201.114.253.177
URL:
DATE: 06/27/2006 10:40:12 AM
Bud, I hope you brought a shovel and a bucket! Thanks for the great photo. I sat here grinning at it, experiences the sun and surf with her.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 137.149.66.146
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 06/27/2006 05:52:31 AM
Thanks for letting us follow along. I'm taking oscar to the ocean this weekend... of course, he's a little little to walk in... I'll probably get a toe in there though. Get that girl a beachball!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Off to Have an Adventure
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Family
DATE: 06/23/2006 09:08:47 PM
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Now that the conference is over, I'm off to have some fun. My family will be reuniting on the East Coast to spend some time with our feet in the sand, listening to the surf.
The best part? I'm going to be introducing my little girl to the ocean, and seeing the waves and the sand and the water again for the first time.
Back in a week. Gone exploring.
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AUTHOR: Ewan McIntosh
EMAIL: ewan.mcintosh@blueyonder.co.uk
IP: 80.192.21.154
URL: http://edu.blogs.com
DATE: 06/24/2006 02:14:16 AM
As someone who lives on an island (the UK) and has always lived right next to the ocean I sometimes forget that for some folk there is a 'first time' they will actually remember seeing the ocean, something they will be able to remember for the rest of their lives. What a strange thing; I wish I knew what that feels like. Put your descriptive writing to the test to let us know what it's like.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: My Apologies
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 06/22/2006 10:30:33 PM
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If you tried to stop by to the blog today and you weren't able to get the page to load -- my apologies to you. Apparently, the coComment block that I added to my sidebar was causing the site to misload or not load at all. I've lost the coComment block until they get things sfixed on their end.
Again, so sorry.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Fisch-y
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: cotie06
DATE: 06/22/2006 10:14:12 PM
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I've had the opportunity at TIE to meet Karl Fisch, share a meal with him, and watch him present. Two words sum up my excitement for what he and his school are up to in terms of professional development and collaboration: Pay attention.
We'll be seeing some good stuff coming out of their work.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.165.202.170
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 06/23/2006 09:01:58 PM
No worries. I'm happy to help. And, if you'd like, I'll host Moodle for y'all for a while.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 206.83.150.2
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/23/2006 08:00:16 AM
Thanks Bud. You forgot to mention that you bought that meal - next time's on me.
You may end up regretting being so kind, I'll be bugging you about trying to develop a collaborative blogging project between your students and some of our classes. And if I can convince my district tech folks to let me install Moodle on an old server (doubtful, but I'll give it a shot) - I'll probably end up bugging you about that as well. No good deed goes unpunished . . .
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Sample Post for Ann
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/21/2006 10:50:32 AM
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I'm showing some folks how to create an active hyperlink by using a blog text editor.
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AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 137.149.66.146
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 06/21/2006 11:01:49 AM
you have succeeded.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Sandbox Wiki
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: cotie06
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 06/21/2006 09:12:35 AM
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I've created a sandbox wiki for ideas that I've gotten from Phil's presentation. I'm calling it a "sandbox" because you can also use it to play around with wiki editing. You'll need to create an account to edit -- but it's really easy to do. Check it out and add your own ideas.
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AUTHOR: DCS
EMAIL: dcsistrunk@yahoo.com
IP: 172.129.164.175
URL: http://dcsistrunk.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/21/2006 04:22:34 PM
This is great! Thanks.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Twilight Zone
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: cotie06
DATE: 06/21/2006 08:51:06 AM
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I'm attending a session on blogging and podcasting and wikis this morning from a librarian in my school district. I was curious to see what he was up to with these tools at his school. Imagine my surprise when my name and blog address came up on his presentation screen.
Very surreal.
I'm impressed by his message that we need to teach students to evaluate the information that they're reading and writing. Very good point.
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AUTHOR: Phil g
EMAIL:
IP: 206.83.150.2
URL:
DATE: 06/21/2006 09:07:38 AM
Hey Bud,
It was really great to meet you today! Thanks for including me on your blog! THANKS!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Ed Carnival
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/21/2006 08:23:26 AM
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The newest Carnival of Education is up. It's well put together and worth a look.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Real Words?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 06/20/2006 01:46:04 PM
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Topics like this one keep me listening to Open Source:
Lurking in the background is an old (and tired?) debate among
linguists, anthropologists, and lexicographers about what constitute
'real' words and the authority to determine them. Prescriptive linguists argue spoken or written language ought to follow established rules; descriptive linguists
are more concerned with understanding language as it is used. Most
readers and scholars fall somewhere in between, embracing both
consistency and flexibility, but the pendulum seems to have swung
descriptive-ward.
The
more immediate context for this show is our relationship to verbal
authority in a time of user-generated dictionaries -- of user-generated
everything. Scarequotes wrote that he's been "thinking about our
relationship with The Dictionary. That mythical tome that determines
What’s a Real Word. Because our casual references to and belief in The
Dictionary seem to continue unhindered by the emergence of Wiktionary, Urban Dictionary, and Double-Tongued Word Wrester."
We're wondering how true this is, and why, if it is true, the
dictionary hasn't suffered the crumbled-faith fate of other powerful
top-down institutions (like The Paper of Record, the The Encyclopedia, or The TV News).
Much has been made of web searching as a new standard for our current
lexicon. The Internet has spawned its own vocabulary ("website" seems
almost quaint after about a decade and a half) and hastened the
adoption of others ("text" as a verb). Microsoft Word can't keep up: it
accepts "blog" but flags "podcast," which was the New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year
in 2005 and today yields 282 million Google hits.
So are lexicographers simply trying to keep up with the descriptive
power of search engines? Does the prevalence of new words signify the
downfall of dictionaries, or merely that they have been supplanted by
new authorities? Is Wiktionary, ever-changing but organized, the answer?
Put another way: how many hits do you need before you're legal?
I am looking forward to this show. We can't fight a changing language. Nor should we -- but so many teachers think that the job of teaching reading and writing is one of being a protectionist or a guardian.
That's so, so, so, so wrong.
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AUTHOR: panasianbiz
EMAIL: bill@panasianbiz.com
IP: 75.6.10.148
URL: http://www.panasianbiz.com
DATE: 07/13/2006 06:17:21 PM
I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I was quite intrigued by this discussion. Yes, language is indeed dynamic, not stagnant, which is exactly what makes it so exciting, and, especially for those just trying to learn it, rather frustrating as well.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.219
URL:
DATE: 06/30/2006 03:08:56 PM
We agree. New words are necessary for truly new things. Who could possibly argue against that?
My concern is that English also changes due to sloppy repetition by people ignorant of proper usage. English teachers have a duty to fight that.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ms Cornelius
EMAIL: Head_Ape@hotmail.com
IP: 70.237.220.177
URL: http://shrewdnessofapes.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/30/2006 01:30:24 PM
English is a living language! It must keep growing and changing-- or else it would be Latin. Look at how much trouble the French have with trying to aprove every new word so that "Americanisms" don't creep in, especially when it comes to technology.
I have sometimes played a game (even though I now teach social studies) with my students called "Word To Your Mother" where we talk about words that have been invented or changed since their parents were born, and then we move to words that have been invented since they themselves were born. AIDS, podcast, internet, new uses of words for new contexts-- it's all fair game.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.219
URL:
DATE: 06/22/2006 07:58:38 AM
It is, of course, silly to think that dictionaries should never change. Truly new things usually need new words, and dictionaries must change to keep up with the legitimate needs of expressing innovation.
That, however, is very different than changing the dictionaries based on roundheeled descriptivism that allows ignorant usage to become "acceptable" through mindless repetition.
I would argue that "the job of teaching reading and writing is one of being a protectionist or a guardian" to a large extent. The teacher should protect and guard society from those who would change its language without good reason. Ignorant parroting of bad usage does not constitute a good reason.
Furthermore, the teacher has the obligation to protect and guard the students from the consequences of their own poor verbal expression.
We would think poorly of a wood-shop teacher who simply shrugged at crooked cuts, uneven sanding and poor staining; why should we tolerate an English teacher who puts up with shoddy grammar, diction, spelling and punctuation?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/20/2006 07:07:01 PM
Once when I was in grad school (MA TESOL), I was told that anything a native English speaker does with the language is OK. I told another ESL teacher about that a few weeks ago, and she had a heart attack! But when you look at the language variety produced by native English speakers, it is pretty hard to hold to the idea of one right way to speak and write.
I think that my ESL students, and probably all students, need to be taught what language will help and hurt them in their other classes or in a job search or whatever. That is for their protection. But I think it should stop there.
As for dictionaries, I have one in my classroom that I had used as a child (45 years ago or so). There are so many words that don't appear in that old dictionary. And many of the meanings have changed. Who caused those changes? Regular old people who decided to use a word in a different way or to stop using a word entirely or to coin a new word. The order did not come down from on high. I am not ready to give up my right to use language the way I want to. I hope others still feel the same.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Using the Phones Instead of Banning Them
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Cell Phones
DATE: 06/19/2006 10:35:40 PM
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Great post from Terry Freedman on possible uses for cell phones at school. Who needs those pesky clickers that only do one thing -- can't we set up cell phones to do that job and so much more?
Another question: how long do you think it'll take some smart thinking company to put together some hardware and software just so we can capitalize on cell phones in our classrooms? It's taken my school more than a year to set up a wireless network -- and it's still not complete -- but the cell companies already have multiple, fairly reliable, networks that penetrate into most, if not all, schools now.
I'd gladly spend a little bit of money to piggyback some of our work on one of those networks, particularly since most of my students already carry phones.
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AUTHOR: marcopolo47
EMAIL:
IP: 210.128.172.66
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/marco47jp/
DATE: 06/21/2006 06:13:59 AM
A presenter at a call conference here in Japan early in June this year stated that one university in Japan is phasing out its computers, that there is lack of Internet connectivity at home, while at the same time 100% of students have cell-phones: "100% of students have a Keitai!
> 80% have 3rd Generation video phones
92% send 5 keitai mails a day
Mobile games to overtake PC and Console Games combined in 2006 (Nokia prediction)
Synchronous Keitai Use while
Bus, Trains, Walking, TV, Cycling! Lectures !
(for the original ppt file, go to http://ept3.sgu.ac.jp/mod/data/view.php?d=3&page=7 and click on #071 Pratt "Four-university collaboration project on mobile phone-LMS integration" )
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Hitching a Conference Ride
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: cotie06
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 06/19/2006 10:27:23 PM
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I'm sitting in a lonely ol' room here at Copper Mountain preparing for my first TIE Conference in the morning. I'm looking forward to a few days of spending time with other technology-minded folks.
David Warlick, who attends far more conferences than I do, has put together a new resource that I hope will help to create some order out of all the great information coming out of the multitude of conferences out there. The resource, called Hitchhikr is:
a conference aggregator for lack of a better phrase. You’ll see
two lists of conferences in the panel to the right. The top list
includes conferences that will be happening in the next month (in red),
conferences that have already happened in the last month (gray), and
any conferences that are currently going on (blue). The longer list
beneath includes all of the conferences that have been registered on
hitchhikr. They are sorted by popularity.
You can click any conference to receive its report. Reports include
a brief description, submitted by the person who registered the event
(any registered hitchhikr can add a conference), a logo, a link to the
conference web site, dates and suggested tags. Only the person who
registered the conference can edit it.
Beneath this area is the aggregator. There is a primary default tag
that it searches on initially, displaying thumbnails of any tagged
flickr images and a list of the latest blog articles. There’s also a
link to an RSS feed that you can subscribe to in your favorite
aggregator. Other suggested tags are listed, and will be search when
you click them.
Any logged user can add a tag, by clicking the plus (+) symbol. Any logged user can also delete a tag. The suggested tag for NECC is NECC06.
It would also be a good idea to also tag blogs with just NECC as well.
It may also be useful for presenter to add tags with their names. For
instance, I’m doing several sessions and might suggest that bloggers in
the audience tag any entries about my sessions with necc06warlick. I could then add that tag to hitchhikr so that they can be aggregated there.
Lots of functionality here, if folks will use it. David's built it -- now I'm hoping others will use it. I'm tagging this post "coTIE06" as that's the current tag for this conference. I hope I'm not the only one using the tag, and that I'll learn a great deal from other conference attendees.
If you're here at TIE, make sure to tag your posts "coTIE06" so that we can test out David's aggregator. Also, please look me up -- I'd love to get together to share ideas or conversation.
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AUTHOR: David Warlick
EMAIL: david@landmark-project.com
IP: 24.148.239.243
URL: http://2cents.davidwarlick.com
DATE: 06/20/2006 02:27:12 PM
Bud, I wish is was there in Copper Mountain -- with lots of water and asperins, of course.
This seems to be a problem with Hitchikr, that accounts seem to be setting themselves up with no password and e-mail address, causing the account to mask itself into other peoples accounts. I tried to solve it this morning, but didn't have enough time. I'll work on it this evening or early in the morning.
-- dave --
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 206.83.150.2
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/20/2006 07:57:08 AM
Interestingly,I just tried to create a login for Hitchhikr but it thinks I'm already logged in as Jedd Bartlett. I tried logging out and then clicking the login again, but it still thinks I'm Jedd. I'm wondering if there is a caching issue with the TIE servers that is not allowing this to work correctly. I'll try from another computer in my first session.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 206.83.150.2
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/20/2006 07:49:17 AM
Bud,
I've been using just tie06 for my tags. That seems a little simpler than coTIE06 and more likely to be used by other conference attendees who might just be tagging for themselves. What do you think?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: For all You (Second) Lifers
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Games
DATE: 06/19/2006 12:36:25 PM
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Stephanie's compiled a solid collection of resources for those interested into digging deeper with Second Life. I can't say I'm sold on the tool, yet, but I'm definitely paying attention.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Quickmuse
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Poetry
DATE: 06/19/2006 09:52:32 AM
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If you want to see an artist at work, check out Quickmuse, an interesting little site where poets compete against the clock and we see all their stumbles, edits and revisions in realtime. All of the poems and the writing sessions are archived. Pretty cool.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: ONE LAST Wiki
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/16/2006 10:48:13 AM
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Sheryl responded to Will's concern by creating yet another wiki. Okay. I'll play -- at least one more time. Here's the wiki she's created. Let's see what we can do with it.
Although, couldn't one of these be useful, too?
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AUTHOR: Tadge
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL:
DATE: 06/19/2006 05:38:58 PM
Bud,
It seems that there are a lot of people out there with the same ideas on promoting wikis. I think the upside is that people are getting it. The downside as you mentioned is the disconnect between all of these sites. We are all back to recreating the wheel. I think if anything that cross linking wikis will be what sustains the projects that are out there. I know that when I see something that is relevant somewhere else I link it. The questions remains will be destined to repeat the past of the static web by using web 2.0 and relink all the information that is out there? I don't know. I think that it would be wise for people to realize that not only is a wiki a place to quickly add content it is also a community. Something that I think Ed Tech Talk has done nicely. We have to find ways of linking the community and finding one place to collaborate. Any how I am interested to see where this all goes.
Wiki ON!
Tadge
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 141.150.83.171
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 06/18/2006 09:45:39 PM
Bud,
You can also check out the School Computing Wiki at:
http://schoolcomputing.wikia.com/wiki/School_Computing_Home_Page
Happy to add to the confusion!
- Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
EMAIL: snbeach@cox.net
IP: 70.160.174.8
URL: http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/
DATE: 06/17/2006 05:23:01 AM
Thanks Bud for sharing the wiki...
Bottom line-- I do not know if another wiki is the right tool and it certainly doesn't have to be the EduWikipedia page (or philosophy) that carries it-- but what I do know the timing is right for this conversation.
Some say it can't be done-- that it will never work. I am getting lots of feedback in that direction as you can imagine. However, there is something deep inside me that feels that a collective/connected project like this is the very essence of Web 2.0 knowledge construction-- all of us adding what we have -- for the collective good. Something we can all use to grow and help others grow. Something that none of us have time to build alone, but with all of us contributing would be manageable.
I am so open to suggestions and ideas on how to do this differently-- better-- but like many of us out there-- I am longing for some organization and sensible way to put my finger on the resources I need, when I need them.
I hope others are feeling the same way.
Sheryl
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Yet ANOTHER Resource
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/16/2006 10:05:11 AM
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Will's got a post this morning in which he both lays out a new resource as well as expresses a concern that I've had for some time. The resource looks useful -- a Digg-ish site for teacher news. The concern, though, is worth re-airing:
And to be honest, this is all stemming from a bigger burr in my brain of late that has to do with the seeming randomness of all of the really great work that people in this community are starting to create. It’s just feeling like it’s all over the place, and that if we could in some way get our collective act together, we could start creating an incredibly valuable resource. I know it’s all about small pieces loosely joined, but wouldn’t it be great to point the newcomers to one spot that was a clearinghouse for all of this work? Not to mention the value it would have to us old timers in terms of bringing people in. I mean all of a sudden, it seems like everyone has a wiki, and most all of them have great intent and good content. But there’s also a lot of duplication of effort, and more importantly, dis-connection, at least that what it feels like to me.
Am I wrong?
I don't think he's wrong at all. We constantly reinvent the wheel when it comes to most of this stuff -- inventing a new presentation site to meet our needs whenever we need one; mixing and re-mixing the content that we need when we need it, and so on. Of course, that makes sense -- we're all somewhat loners when it comes to finding both the time and the motivation for creating and sharing all of these tools and resources. But frequently, it does feel like we're duplicating labor, as Will suggests. There's amazing work spread out all over the place.
Maybe that's how it's supposed to be. Maybe a centralization will kill creativity and incentive to explore. But maybe not. I'm certain that I don't know the answer. I do, though, recognize the problem, and it's only going to grow as more and more teachers and others catch onto the power of Web 3.14159.
Any ideas? Here's a small one that I've got -- let's put a moratorium on new wiki creations until we flesh out some of the really good ones. (And, hey, any chance someone will remind me about all of the good ones -- I was going to link to a few -- but I bet y'all can do a better job of summarizing which ones are the best.)
(And yes, I do realize that this post, in some way, is a perfect example of what Will's talking about. I've re-stated the problem in a second place, thereby fracturing the conversation a bit. If you want to respond, might as well head over to Will's place and post a comment there, as that'll at least keep comments on this topic limited to one place. For now.)
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AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 167.86.1.221
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/16/2006 02:42:57 PM
I said the same thing in an email to Anne Davis about her wiki as I prepare for my presentation at TIE:
"I think something like your wiki could really help out. If we could all come up with one really good site (or at least clusters of sites) to reference, we could maybe stop recreating the wheel. Of course the wheel will keep changing, but it might give us a good base to work off of."
It was after complaining about how hard it was to get ready for this presentation because every time I thought I was ready, somebody posted something new and great that I wanted to include!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Let's Collect Writing Project Blogs
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Wikis
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 06/15/2006 09:15:15 AM
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I like to see what's happening at other National Writing Project sites, especially during the summer, when the summer institutes are happening all over the country. Lots of great stuff is occurring in those workshops, and lots of it is trickling out for public consumption via different site blogs. However, I have never been able to find a complete list of blogs from all of the different sites.
So how about let's create one? I've set up a page on my wiki for listing active NWP local site blogs. If you have one, or know about one, would you please add it to the list? I'll compile an OPML file for easy subscription once the list reaches critical mass.
Thanks in advance.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Technology is Downright Cool
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: The Podcast
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 06/14/2006 11:49:10 PM
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This short podcast is a "wowcast." Sometimes, I'm just blown away by what we can do with the tools at our disposal.
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AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 141.150.83.171
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 06/18/2006 09:44:01 PM
Bud,
Thanks for the 'PR'. We're having a great time adding to the conversation. It's awesome to know someone is listening.
It's been great listening to you over at Teachers Teaching Teachers. Thanks for participating.
Let's keep the new story going.
- Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Symington
EMAIL: doug@samlab.com
IP: 64.180.212.245
URL: http://samlab.com
DATE: 06/15/2006 02:43:20 AM
"Megaphone to the world" indeed--cool 'cast Bud.
Skype to phone (currently free within North America) provides an opportunity to really expand the conversation, to those who may not be quite ready for VoIP--or "on the road" ;-)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Cell Phones, or, I Really AM a Geek
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 06/13/2006 11:07:18 PM
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I have always despised cell phones, in a love/hate sort of way. I've carried one for eight years, and have depended on my ability to reach people via their cell phones countless times. That said, I dislike people talking loudly and rudely in the midst of peace and quiet; I loathe the one person who has to take a call in a crowded elevator.
Most of all, I hate it when a phone rings during the middle of a class or lecture or presentation or church service, etc. But I've never really been one of those "give me that phone so I can give it to the principal" type of people. That's right up there with denying students permission to go to the restroom.
Of course, I'm beginning to be a bit of a cell phone junkie, now that I've added a RAZR V.3 to my arsenal of multimedia tools. I totally understand why so many of my students live and die by their telephones. The potential is HUGE.
If we can figure out all of those silly proprietary formats that videos and photos and audio recordings are made in on the different types of phones that really do saturate our schools now, then we're really going to have something in terms of an all-in-one digital storytelling tool.
Anyone know if there's an "all-in-one" converter out there? I'm sure curious.
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AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 65.166.85.30
URL: http://teach42.com
DATE: 06/16/2006 10:34:53 AM
If you feel like hacking your brand new phone, visit MotoModders website. It is amazing just how much you can tweak and unlock on those suckers. It's a great phone already, but you can make it do so much more with some work!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner.graham@gmail.com
IP: 61.68.211.206
URL: http://gwegner.edublogs.org
DATE: 06/15/2006 06:45:08 AM
I would highly recommend a thorough browse through Alexander Hayes' blog. Alex is an Aussie educator with a passion for mobile learning and you will find pointers to all sorts of stuff including where all of this cell/mobile phone technology is going. You can also subscribe to blogs now using a service called PlusMo plus you add a feed for your own blog using that service for free. Just think, your students could subscribe and read your blog on their cell phones (and vice versa). Then you'd really find it indispensable.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: An Awareness Film: The Internet
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Storytelling
DATE: 06/07/2006 10:06:22 AM
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Here's the next installment of OldeSchoolNews.com's Awareness Films. The film is about the Internet. Both the student and I agree that this isn't as solid as the first piece -- but we've both learned a lot along the way. Hopefully, we'll see more Awareness Films over the summer. Future topics are slated to include Internet safety and recycling.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Calm Before the Storm
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Travel
DATE: 06/07/2006 09:34:13 AM
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I'll be traveling with my wife to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary starting tomorrow. I'll be offline during that time -- as it should be -- but I'll be returning in a week or so with some interesting new content. The Colorado State University Writing Project will be beginning its Summer Institute next week, and we intend to podcast as much good writing from the group as we can. We'll also be pushing the blog this summer -- hopefully, there'll be lots of good content from the group there as well. I'll pass along the feeds and links when things get hopping. We should have some other writing project sites joining us in podcasting teacher writing this summer.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: When It's Not For School Anymore
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Games
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 06/07/2006 09:27:07 AM
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Mr. Evil Eyes's Othello video has really taken off. I recorded several thousand page viewings just yesterday -- which is a major jump in traffic for our little newspaper. The feedback is pretty positive -- and the grades on the project were turned in months ago. This is so not about school anymore. All I did in the classroom was teach the Shakespeare. This is about flexing one's creative muscles. This is about the power of audience.
Of course, Mr. Evil Eyes wasn't creating for the world -- he was creating for his teachers. But I wonder what this positive attention will do for him for future projects. I have a hunch that it'll be a good thing.
Good stuff rises on the Internet. Students are not students -- they're participants in a community of creation and consumption where they are judged on their work -- that's all. And the Internet, it seems, is big enough to embrace most everyones' interests. I think everybody can find an audience here.
Interestingly, I learned a lot following the postings about the video around the 'net. For example, did you know that there's live theater in Second Life? I sure didn't. Lots of potential here.
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AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.142.185
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/07/2006 10:59:41 AM
I love it "the power of audience!" That is such an amazing statement. I am getting ready to edit and work with video in my dream computer lab that I'm working on. I've been working on the specs on westwoodtechplan.wikispaces.com. Would you mind posting what you use for video and editing so that I can learn from you. (Software and hardware!) I would appreciate it so much. I have some money now and will not have another chance for several years. I can add you to the wiki as well if you'd like to do it that way!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Quick Question
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/06/2006 11:53:18 AM
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Say you were wanting to create a group blog that you could easily add users to. Specifically, say that you wanted multiple people to be able to "join" and post to the blog, with the minimum amount of registration hassle for everybody involved, administrator included. I've looked at Wordpress.com, I've looked at Edublogs, and I've used Blogger for similar work in the past. I've considered Drupal, but I'd prefer a setup that's freely hosted and could be replicated by anyone who wanted to do so. Blogger seems like the easiest tool for this job -- but maybe it's not the best one.
Any suggestions?
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AUTHOR: Susan
EMAIL: livingabroad2@yahoo.com
IP: 69.95.49.114
URL:
DATE: 06/07/2006 08:53:39 PM
Elgg lets you create community blogs. You sign up for a blog at elgg, then create the community or shared blog. Send invites to the folks you want to have join. They join elgg too and then join the community blog. There's a whole variety of options then in terms of who can actually see the posts - you can leave them public, or restrict them to community members, or subgroups!
Elgg is free, with no advertising and if you have access to a server you can download the software and host a version of it yourself.
http://elgg.net
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Symingtonq
EMAIL: doug@samlab.com
IP: 24.69.17.252
URL: http://samlab.com
DATE: 06/07/2006 11:51:58 AM
Hi Bud,
Quick note with a vote for blogger for what you'd like to do. I find that I keep coming back to this "old standby"--especially for new blogs/bloggers.
Look forward to hearing how you decide to go on this one. Also hope that now that you've been recruited by the gang at "Teachers Teaching Teachers" that you'll still have time to check into our EdTechTalk Brainstorms on Thursday nights, from time to time.
Also wanted to add that I love the "Othello video" produced by your student. Great stuff!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andy Watson
EMAIL: awatson@aberdeencity.gov.uk
IP: 194.105.164.99
URL: http://www.abernet.org.uk/wp
DATE: 06/07/2006 08:41:03 AM
One issue to consider is whether everyone who is to be posting needs an individual username and password. There are many situations where one login can be used by a whole class quite successfully.
If you can host your own site then WordPress is easy to install and use. Otherwise Edublogs if just a couple of usernames and passwords will do.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Douglas
EMAIL: palisade14@gmail.com
IP: 66.109.214.154
URL: http://www.coronerstories.com/
DATE: 06/07/2006 08:14:02 AM
Haven't used the multiple author features of WordPress.com to any degree beyond 'testing', but the ability to have and create many Categories for a post would seem invaluable in organizing the thoughts of many.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Steve Hooker
EMAIL: steve@cyberSaps.com
IP: 82.47.110.136
URL: http://www.walsallschools.org/
DATE: 06/07/2006 03:15:02 AM
I'm afraid we're not freely hosted, but we do as you ask. Add an unlimited bunch of emails to a field and we send out invites, with passwords. It's based on Manila, the 2nd oldest blogging platform, after blogger. Had one site with 3,000 members, 147,000 pages.
Free to try for 30 days.
As you're too far for me to do one-on-one training, maybe we could work a steep discount.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/06/2006 09:30:58 PM
We've used Blogger for this but I would hope there's something better out there. We've done it both with teachers and students, and both had the same issues. First, because you can only invite three people at a time, it takes a while to invite a class of 30 students. Second, both my teachers and our students had issues with accepting the invitation email. Sometimes it wouldn't make it through the spam filter on their email (they wouldn't get it at all), sometimes it would but would be put in their junk mail folder (which many of them didn't know they had - at least that was a teachable moment!) And, for whatever reason, about 15-20% of the time when they did get the email, they still didn't get added to the blog. Somewhere in the process they would get an error message from Blogger, and then we would have to reinvite them.
So it's definitely doable in Blogger, but not terribly elegant. It can take a lot of class time if you're doing this with students, and it can frustrate the very teachers you are trying to get excited about blogging. I keep hoping Blogger will improve this feature, but they don't seem to be making many feature additions these days. Hopefully someone else will suggest a better alternative.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 151.196.117.45
URL: http://www.academicaesthetic.com
DATE: 06/06/2006 05:42:28 PM
Wordpress would work if you already had a hosting service (there are free ones out there but they leave a lot to be desired, as I'm finding out in my own expiriments), but for what you're asking it looks like Blogger is it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 06/06/2006 01:26:05 PM
21 Publish doesn't really do it for me, either. I need a one-step, "Send me your e-mail address and I'll add you to the blog" type of registration.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@rimestimes.net
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.rimestimes.net
DATE: 06/06/2006 12:09:16 PM
Bud, I think the folks over at 21publish.com have exactly what you're looking for. I've been using them for my classroom's blogs this year and it has all of the features you've asked for (and then some).
They host the website for you, for free (there are some advertisements). You can have up to 100 user accounts for free and the administrator of the site can add users/co-authors, or individuals can sign up on the portal for your site. In other words, you can have your students register themselves, or you can do it, and you can create co-authors that have the ability to post to certain topics on your blog. That would cover the multiple authors aspect you were talking about.
The nice thing is, it's easy to replicate in other classrooms, and for other teachers. There's a learning curve with the dashboard, like any other blogging tool, but it's pretty straightforward.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Controlled Chaos
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Professional Development
DATE: 06/05/2006 10:20:07 PM
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Here's the podcast from the other evening. I haven't listened yet -- but it was one of the more interesting webcasting experiences I've had -- lots of people coming and going -- which made it rather hard to follow the flow of conversation, or even to make it to the topic the hosts had chosen. Controlled chaos. Or chaotic control -- you choose. It was certainly fun to attempt to trade ideas with folks -- hope to join them again, soon.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Creating Shared Spaces
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 05/31/2006 12:20:50 AM
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I'm tickled to be invited to spend some time with the gang at Teachersteachingteachers.org tomorrow night. Join in on the webcast via Skype Wednesday, 9pm EST. Here's what we/they/you will be tackling:
When setting up group blogs or wikis in schools, one of the first set of questions has to do with the focus of the blog or wiki.
- Is the site about the content of a particular course which a new group of students joins each semester?
- Or is the blog/wiki for the particular group of students in a class, and therefore it closes at the end of a class?
Other questions quickly follow:
- Is the blog/wiki going to be public or private? Will readers be
limited to those who we register or will registration be open? Who will
have permission to write responses or new posts to the blog/wiki? Will
there be a review process before something gets posted?
- Would it be best if we could give students their own blogs/wikis, and aggregate these into one class-wide or school-wide blog?
- Or is there something more useful about having a group class-wide
blog/wiki? How can we set up blogs/wikis that have multiple classes and
schools using them, yet make it possible for individual students and
classes to see their work separately?
By now some of us have tried any number of these possibilities.
Let’s get together and talk about what has gone well and what hasn’t in
designing blogs and wikis for our classrooms and schools. Let’s tell
our stories with an eye to the future of what we might do next year.
Teachersteachingteachers.org is a project out of the Worldbridges Webcast Academy, which means it'll be live and exciting. I'm looking forward to the conversation. I hope you'll join us.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A World at His Fingertips
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Games
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 05/30/2006 02:34:49 PM
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What happens when your game is more than a game? How about Othello, World of Warcraft style? One of my students produced this video as his final project for my Shakespeare course this year. He chose to involve his family in the project (they help with the voice work) and to shoot the abridged performance via a network of computers in his home.
How cool is this?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Concilus
EMAIL: johncn@teachers4schools.com
IP: 67.8.242.153
URL: http://www.teachers4schools.com/open/
DATE: 06/05/2006 06:01:47 AM
This is great stuff. I would give Bud the Teacher an "A" for allowing alternative products to demonstrate competency...this is "applied Differentiated Instruction" in my mind.
Each student has specific strengths and weaknesses in learning styles, and teachers have to realize that locking learners into old patterns of reports, and projects does not sufficienntly allow students from the "remix culture' to tap into those strengths in the classroom.
Too often we view technology as a product or goal in and of itself, instead of what it really is in a Web 2.0 context: technology should just be a set of new tools to get the job of learning done.
I will be showing this clip at our fall in-service for our teachers ;-)
Hats off to Bud, and to the creativity of "Mr. Evil Eyes".
Johncn
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jennifer
EMAIL: technospud@gmail.com
IP: 69.231.217.73
URL: http://www.technospudprojects.com
DATE: 06/02/2006 07:36:26 AM
How awesome was that??
It just is another affirmation that our students do not differ technology from any other part of their life. It merges in simplistically and everywhere!!
It is our job, in my humble opinion, to continue to not only encourage this integration but also to expect it.
Thank you for sharing!!! You have my braincells really pumping this morning with possibilities.
Please pass on my congratulations and thanks to the student as well. And way to go family to jump on board!!!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 05/31/2006 12:09:39 AM
Thank you all for the kind words -- I hope you'll pass some of your thoughts onto the original posting of this piece -- OldeSchoolNews.com I've added a link in the original post -- I think the student did a tremendous job.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 68.84.32.241
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 05/30/2006 09:38:15 PM
Waaaaaaaay cool.
Make sure David Warlick sees it... he loves stuff like this.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: DCS
EMAIL: dcsistrunk@yahoo.com
IP: 172.163.232.75
URL: http://dcsistrunk.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/30/2006 07:29:25 PM
Way cool! A tip of the hat to the student AND the teacher.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 72.177.63.64
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/30/2006 04:54:39 PM
That, my friend, PWNs!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 216.27.182.251
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 05/30/2006 04:32:39 PM
Wow. Thanks for posting this and your journalism class projects. Gives me great ideas for beyond-powerpoint assignments that allow the kids to really show what they know.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/30/2006 03:11:30 PM
It is just too cool!
This makes all the discussion about the need to change education even more real. Our students can do so much but, rather than recognizing and valuing that, we choose to penalize them for not doing the things we did when we were students (and our parents and maybe even grandparents before us).
Congratulations on having a classroom that allowed a student to do this!
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PING:
TITLE: Remix Culture
URL: http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/603-Remix-Culture.html
IP: 64.202.163.7
BLOG NAME: Practical Theory
DATE: 05/30/2006 09:50:00 PM
I believe that this video over at Bud the Teacher's site is a prime example of what David Warlick and others call "remix culture."
Othello in the world of World of Warcraft. And Bud Hunt is one of those teachers who is flexible and smart enough to let
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What Name Should We Use Now?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 05/25/2006 05:24:00 PM
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If it's the case that O'Reilly owns the name "Web 2.0," and it seems that they just might, then what shall we call this strange network of people and tools?
And how much are we going to owe the O'Reilly people for infringement if we've been misusing the term?
Let's have some fun with this one -- what's your cute and/or clever name for the sphere of tools and people and network-ability that is formerly known as "Web 2.0"?
(Thanks to Dave Winer for the tip.)
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AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 216.27.182.251
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 05/29/2006 05:52:25 PM
I think that a better discussion might be what of the comments. The vitriolic discussion at Radar.Oreilly.com reached epic levels, with Sarah Winge being called a C***, Tim O'Reilly an a**++++, and people discussing book burning.
I have been chewing over my own post about the phenomenon of the invisible poster. The beauty of blogs is the ability to have conversations. The ugly underside is the ability to post anonymously and comment anonymously. (Note: I post anonymously to my teaching blog.) I've spent this year trying to teach my students to take responsibility for their actions, and to be positive contributors to society.
Does posting "F- U! O'Reilly!" qualify? Blog threads enable mob mentality to take hold, too easily, I think. In my free time, I used to play cards and such on Pogo.com. One of the reasons I stopped was because of the quick turn attacks of folks in the gaming lobbies. Posters were making anti-gay statements in a game room; when another player asked them not to, the player was attacked.
Part of my job as an educator is to remind students that there are consequences for their actions. Tim O'Reilly was on vacation during this maelstrom. What he'll say when he posts is anyone's guess. But does he, or anyone, deserve to be castigated by the anonymous blogosphere? That, to me, is the more relevant question than who owns Web 2.0.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Will R.
EMAIL: weblogged@gmail.com
IP: 68.38.10.31
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 05/29/2006 04:06:54 PM
Read/Write Web has always seemed to me to be a better phrase than Web 2.0. I might be partial to it since I've been calling it that for so long, but I agree with Tim. That's what the whole point from the beginning has been.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 24.137.102.96
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 05/27/2006 06:12:20 AM
the process of naming is a necessarily backward looking one. One must completely know a thing before one can define it. As that kind of knowing is not really possible, we must limit a thing to name it. That, or the naming process becomes meaningless, like in the case of the word 'infinity.' The word indefinte has a distinct meaning, 'infinite' not so much.
I'm willing to let go of the old. In with the new. I'm willing to serve our new Pi overlords.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: TimS
EMAIL:
IP: 24.255.118.12
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/tstahmer/
DATE: 05/26/2006 06:32:03 PM
If we absolutely need a name for whatever is going on, I prefer the "read-write web". That was coined by Tim Berners-Lee to reflect his original concept of what the web should be.
It has the authority of the man who actually did invent the web and who is one of the few people out there putting the best interests of the web before profits.
But if you want something numeric, how about Web 3.14159? We could shorten it to pi. :-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.190.107
URL: http://www.academicaesthetic.com
DATE: 05/26/2006 10:33:24 AM
I never stopped just calling it "The Web," but if a NEW catchy title is what you want, I would suggest "Interactive Internet."
We could call it "II" for short, but pronounce it like the the Wii from Nintendo. ;)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Art Gelwicks
EMAIL: art@webedtech.com
IP: 204.74.20.14
URL: http://www.webedtech.com
DATE: 05/26/2006 09:17:09 AM
Let's just call it "Web 2.1" and leave them with old version. Silly rabbits.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Good Question -- Standards or Seat Time or Somewhere in Between?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 05/25/2006 04:40:00 PM
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Here's a good question, and some good conversation, particularly as graduation looms:
So, as high schools across America struggle to meet Annual Yearly
Progress in graduation rates, I wonder if we need to reconsider how we
approach credits. If a student shows up every day, and on the work he
or she turns in demonstrates basic understanding, can we really deny
that individual credit?
Read the rest of Mr. McNamar's post and weigh in. Perhaps it's just the end of year blues, but I'm a bit divided on this one right now. It used to seem so much clearer.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dennis Fermoyle
EMAIL: Dennis_Fermoyle@warroad.k12.mn.us
IP: 64.77.217.214
URL: http://publiceducationdefender.blogspot.com/
DATE: 05/28/2006 05:26:36 PM
Thank YOU, Brad, for responding to my comment. You make some great points.
As you mention, I am from Warroad, which is a small town in northern Minnesota. I'm out of my league if I start saying things about places like New York City and Los Angeles because I have no familiarity with those places. What I say about public eduation is based on two things: my experience in Warroad and Mt. Iron, Minnesota, and the fact that there is no evidence that schools I've taught at stand out from thousands of other public schools throughout the nation.
In my experience, kids who have come to school with a desire to get a good education have been able to do so. Believe me, in both places we also had our share of kids who did miserably, but that was because their effort was miserable. My assumption is (Yeah, I know what happens when you ass-u-me!) that the same type of thing is happening is many schools around the nation.
You gave me a good shot about paragraph 4. I liked that, but let me explain. It's not that we should praise the people in the school whenever education happens and blame the community when it doesn't. I think the two go together. I do believe most teachers and others in schools are trying to do a good job. I think those who are working in communities with cultures conducive to education are doing well, and those that aren't are the ones having problems. I actually think that some of those teachers who are working in "failing schools" might well be working a lot harder than I am, but they're working in impossible situations.
As I'm sure you could tell, I am really touchy about the criticism of public education. The reason for that is that I'm afraid it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am convinced that the most important factor in the education that takes place in any school is the make up of the students who go there. If you have a lot of motivated kids, you're probably going to have a pretty good school, because they will have a positive effect not only on each other, but also on the kids in that school who aren't quite as motivated. On the other hand, if you have too may kids who aren't motivated, they will also affect other students, and that school is going to be in trouble. Obviously, a major factor in determing how motivated the kids are is the influence of the parents.
What I'm afraid of is that more and more parents who care about their kids' education are going to start taking them out of public schools and homeschool them or send them to private schools. If that happens in a community, I don't care how good the teachers are, or how good the administration is, education just isn't going to be happening those public schools.
Thanks again, Brad, for responding to my comment!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.219
URL:
DATE: 05/28/2006 04:10:48 PM
Hi Dennis,
Thank you for your response. Let me respond to your paragraphs in order:
PARA 1:
We are not talking about the same thing; I did read Mr. McNamar's post, and I chose to respond to part of it, namely the idea that one cannot/should not deny credit to a student who a) shows up and b) demonstrates basic understanding on assignments. I still think it is valid to deny credit to a student of that sort if the student does not prove mastery of a standard.
PARA 2:
I believe that effort is very important, and I have a strong work ethic myself. What I asserted (and continue to stand by) is that it is not a substitute for meeting a standard.
PARA 3:
I did not say that all public schools produce lousy results. I simply asserted that the lousy results that we do see are the results of the emphases on seat time and self-esteem. For the purposes of discussion, let us stiuplate that the Warroad public schools are doing a wonderful job, and that all of the students there receive fine educations. How many Warroads do you suppose it would take to balance the poor quality of students coming out of the public schools in, say, Los Angeles? And Denver? And Detroit? And Washington DC? And Miami? And Houston? And Phoenix? And New York City? Do you deny that these districts are not producing huge percentages of great graduates, even if we only count those who do not drop out?
PARA 4:
I get it. When students do well, it's to the schools' credit. When they are lousy, it's the parents' fault. You and I agree that there are plenty of lousy parents, and the children of these parents are not likely to succeed. What bothers me is that the public schools have such low standards that these students are shoved along from grade to grade and even graduate, despite achieving virtually nothing.
Finally, I encourage you to look at the kinds of math and science that the kids in Singapore are doing. I have shown some of their math textbooks to local school board members, teachers and administrators, and they are invariably stunned by the level of the material. Indeed, I recently showed some math problems from a seventh grade Singapore textbook to some of the absolute top seniors in the class of '06, and they admitted they would not even know how to begin solving problems of that type.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dennis Fermoyle
EMAIL: Dennis_Fermoyle@warroad.k12.mn.us
IP: 64.77.217.214
URL: http://publiceducationdefender.blogspot.com/
DATE: 05/27/2006 03:40:54 PM
Brad, I can see you read Bud's post and my comment, but I'm wondering if you read Mr. McNamar's post (which Bud's post referred to), because we don't seem to be on exactly the same page. Mr. McNamar's post asked if a student should be able to be denied credit for a class even if he satisfied the standard. The question asks whether we should require knowledge AND effort. You frame the issue as being about knowledge OR effort. That's a completely different question. Neither Mr. McNamar or I suggested that a student who doesn't satisfy the standard should gain the credit, and we certainly weren't arguing for an emphasis on seat time or self-esteem.
I would also take issue with your lack of appreciation for the importance of effort. Whether I'm a teacher, a coach, or an employer, if I am to choose between a person with average ability (or knowledge) and a great work ethic, and a person with a great deal of ability and a lousy work ethic, I'll take the person with the great work ethic every time.
Finally, please be careful with your generalizations about "the lousy results we see in public education." Maybe that's true for your schools, but they aren't the only public schools in the nation. I work in a public school, too, and the schools up here are pretty good. You may have a lot of kids who have poor scores on their ACTs, but we don't. In fact a few years ago we had a girl who had a perfect score on both portions of her SAT. We've have kids go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton,Stanfard, and almost any other prestigious university you can name. And no, we are not a rich suburb; we are a very average working class community in Northern Minnesota.
If the education taking place in your schools isn't very good, maybe it's because of something going on inside those schools, but maybe it isn't. Maybe instead of lousy schools you've got too many lousy parents. In any case, don't assume that public schools are lousy everywhere, because in a lot of places we're doing just fine.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.219
URL:
DATE: 05/27/2006 10:08:42 AM
Everybody agrees that a credit is something that is earned; the question is, how should the credit be earned? Should it be earned by applying a given amount of effort over a period of time, or should it be earned by meeting a standard? I would argue that it should be earned by meeting a standard, as that most realistically reflects real life. When you go to the store to buy something, you look for value; does it have the combination of quality, features and price that make it attractive or not? You neither know nor care whether the person who made it tried hard; all you know is that it "cuts the mustard" or it does not.
The emphases on seat time and self-esteem lead to the lousy results that we see in public education. For example, last year, our district (where Bud teaches) had hundreds of juniors who produced scores indistinguishable from random guess on one or more sections of the ACT. Yesterday and today, these students receive diplomas signifying . . . absolutely nothing!
So, to answer the question, "If a student shows up every day, and on the work he or she turns in demonstrates basic understanding, can we really deny that individual credit?" I would say that it depends on how they do on tests. Demonstrating basic understanding on homework is one thing; proving a substantial mastery of knowledge accumulated over a long period is wholly another.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dennis Fermoyle
EMAIL: Dennis_Fermoyle@warroad.k12.mn.us
IP: 64.77.217.214
URL: http://publiceducationdefender.blogspot.com/
DATE: 05/25/2006 07:26:25 PM
Thanks for posting this. After I commented, I noticed that it's over a week old at the original site, so I'm moving the comment over here. In my classes, the kid Mr. McNamar writes about would definitely get an F and no credit, but this question forces me to think about how to justify that. To answer that, I would say that a credit is something to be earned. There are certain things students have to do to earn the credit, and in the process they should reach the standard. In other words, getting the credit should not just be about reaching the standard.
I think the F and no credit is also justified because we are trying to get kids ready for the real world. We constantly hear people in the business world attacking public education because they say we're not doing that. I don't have much use for those who are saying that, but I do agree that in order for people to be useful members of society, whether it's as a spouse, parent, employee, or anything else that matters, they have to demonstrate a certain amount of discipline. There are certain things they are going to have to do even when they don't feel like it.
As far as the people who say that Mr. M. is not teaching a kid because he fails to do work he's perfectly capable of doing, I would tell them to take a hike!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogging Uphill
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 05/25/2006 04:30:00 PM
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Momentum is a funny thing. Once you lose it, it’s hard to get rolling again.
We will celebrate the graduation of 28 seniors on
Friday. That’s always a special time,
but the hecticness of the week preceeding graduation always seems to take over
just about ever other aspect of life.
Thanks to those of you who’ve posted
suggestions about how you do your daily reading and writing school-wide. I was never looking for a “program,” as I
think nothing sucks the goodness out of reading like Accelerated Reader and its
derivatives. But I do see lots of good
ideas buried in the comments – as I find time over the next week, I’ll return
to those and comment on the good, bad and ugly of what I see.
Speaking of
ugly, I am reminded of my statement that we should be publishing the failures
as well as the success stories of working with these technologies in
schools. I owe you a bit of a failure
story, as my blogging project with my speech class didn’t work quite as I had
hoped – although I do see some small successes buried in the not-so-super
results. We learned a great deal this
quarter. Now I’ve got to make sure I record what we learned so that I don’t
forget the lessons over the summer.
But first,
graduation.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/26/2006 08:09:33 PM
Yes, we had graduation this week (470 or so - big suburban high school). Surrounded by final exams, with scheduling for next year and retirement celebrations mixed in. That doesn't leave much time for reading, thinking or blogging. I'm sure most edubloggers (at least those still formally attached to schools) will be less prolific for a couple of weeks.
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PING:
TITLE: dosug ufa
URL: http://www.prostitutki-zdes.ru/dosug-savelovskaya.html
IP: 61.187.56.20
BLOG NAME: dosug ufa
DATE: 12/22/2008 06:00:53 PM
dosug ufa
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Colorado Edublogger Meetup
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 05/20/2006 08:26:45 AM
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I have learned that, thanks to a grant, I will be attending the Colorado TIE Conference in Copper Mountain in June. Karl and Todd both suggested a blogger meet-up at the conference. Sounded like a great idea to me.
If you're going to be at TIE, and would like to have a meetup, please leave a comment. If you're wise to the ways of TIE and can suggest the best place and time for such a meetup, please share that, too.
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AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/20/2006 09:04:00 PM
Glad to hear you'll be able to go! Let me check with one of the TIE folks about possible times and locations that might work well.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Reading and Writing. Every Day.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 05/18/2006 04:29:00 PM
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BODY:
We're looking at how we do things at my school right now, for a bunch of reasons. For one thing, it's always a good thing to be looking at how you operate to make sure that you're doing the best that you can. For another, we've got some concerns about how our students perform in some situations. Yes, test scores are one of those areas, but, more importantly, we're concerned about whether or not we're meeting our students' needs and preparing them for the world after high school.
We're an alternative public high school, which means lots of things to lots of people. (If you've got a take on what "alternative" means, please share your perspective in the comments.) But I'm beginning to believe that, too often, we focus on the alternative in our name, and not the "school." Thankfully, I believe that my colleagues agree and we're making some changed to improve achievement.
My personal favorite is that we're going to institute some sort of SSR (sustained silent reading) and SSW (sustained silent writing) into most every morning. I think such a start will go along way towards creating the kind of academic community that I'd like to see fostered here at my school.
We're still in the planning stages, though, and I'm curious to get some information from you. If you have either sustained reading or sustained writing programs, how do you conduct them? What secrets to success have you found? What problems should we look out for?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Kourtney Johnston
EMAIL: kourtneyj@burlesonisd.net
IP: 216.62.85.10
URL:
DATE: 05/22/2006 06:11:10 AM
A colleague of mine directed me to your blog, and I'm glad she did. We are in the beginning stages of getting podcasting going in our school, and it was interesting to see what others are doing with this technology.
To address the SSR question, I teach 8th grade language arts, and so far, we have not been able to find a program that our school will buy into. 5 years ago we went from one to two middle schools. When we were one, we used AR, but the reading teachers had to use AR as 60% of their grade in reading class. When we went to the new school, the principal (as well as the teachers that moved) felt that having our class instruction count for only 40% of their grade was not an option, so we did not buy the program. Because of our bad experience with AR, any time you mention a "reading program", everyone shuts down. We are reading for 30 minutes a day in homeroom, but it is hit and miss as to who actually does it.
I wish you and all your readers luck with your program. I would love to know if you find something that works!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tim Fredrick
EMAIL: tim.fredrick@nyu.edu
IP: 68.160.235.11
URL: http://timfredrick.typepad.com
DATE: 05/21/2006 05:35:06 AM
My school does not have school-wide SSR or SSW, but I've done it in my classroom. It took a while for the kids to adjust. I had to really make it a priority so that students didn't think I was just using the activity to pass the time. I really refrained from having some sort of assessment of their reading afterwards - I actually had some kids thank me for that, saying that it always ruined the enjoyment they got. I think it is important that they get complete choice over what they read and that we value all types of reading, including magazines, newspapers, comics, graphic novels, etc. Not all kids like to read novels. I think it is also vital to let them read at their own natural pace. I wouldn't have a "Let's read 35 books this year" because then it becomes a race. I had a kid this year who was reading, but just read slow. He finished a book, came over and told me that this was the first book he ever finished (he's in 9th grade!).
As for the writing, again, choice to write about whatever is on their mind is important. They can write about the book (I've found that some students summarize the book, so they definitely need to know what literary response looks like) or whatever is going on in their head. It took a while for them to get into it, but once they did ... they would come in the morning and BEG to be able to write, especially if they had a fight with a parent, etc. It is a great release. Privacy is also important to them, so we came up with a way to signify when a writing was personal and no one would be nosy.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tegan
EMAIL: tegan@pageflakes.com
IP: 60.241.1.178
URL: http://www.pageflakes.com
DATE: 05/21/2006 01:39:10 AM
Hi Bud
I found your blog today and I was suprised to see that teachers are so much into web technology (especially the Web 2.0 technologies). I think it's great that you and your colleagues make use of it. I remember my school days and we actually had a teacher back then who said (quote): "The Internet will go as fast as it came". Well, I'd love to see that teacher again sometime...
Anyway, since you guys are familiar with web technologies I was wondering if you might be interested in Pageflakes. It's a personalized start page (yes, I know, there are quite a few out there). However, it's not just a start page for a single user but also for teams and groups. I thought it might be an interesting tool for you and your colleagues to create shared pages where you add note modules, tasks and todo lists, shared contacts, schedules and news feeds. It's quite simple - just go to www.pageflakes.com, get a free account and then setup your own, personalized page. You can then either leave it in "private" mode, or change it to "shared" (invited teacher colleagues can use and edit it) or "publish" (everyone can see it, but only you can edit it).
Please feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions or questions. I look forward to hearing from you
Tegan Harris
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@rimestimes.net
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.rimestimes.net
DATE: 05/19/2006 10:04:20 AM
Wow, I'm not sure what's left to say after Eric's glowing example of SSR. We do it in our school for 40 minutes everyday (which can be a bit much for some of the slower and struggling readers at times), but we also have it tied into Accelerated Reader, so everyone is reading for their enjoyment and their own personal goal. While I'm not fond of the whole reading to take tests in order to get points thing (my school uses the points as grades for english), I do enjoy that the students look forward to the time they have to read, and many are reading books that they otherwise would not pick up on their own.
Since I have them blogging about their books each day, amny will often find books they want to read by checking the daily blogs, or know which books to stay clear of. There are still days when many of my students don't feel ike reading, or have a hard time settling down just before lunch (our SSR time). As a treat on Fridays I bring in comic books, those big DK books with lots of pictures and fun information, assorted trade books, and let my kids read blogs. That way they have some way of breaking up a particulary boring or difficult book with something especially enjoyable. Of course, many of them choose to continue reading their books, which is a welcome sign.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Langhorst
EMAIL: speakingofhistory@gmail.com
IP: 65.30.51.229
URL: http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/18/2006 10:06:06 PM
Bud - Hello. Wow, your post really fits my current situation. I teach 8th grade American History at South Valley Jr High in Liberty, Missouri. We started SSR in our building this year and it has been one of the most successful programs we have ever had - it has truly changed the climate of the school. First let me tell you what we have done and then give you some end of the year feedback on it. We have 20 minutes of SSR four days each week (on Friday the time we typically spend on SSR is used to view the student created school news program). We have SSR right away in the morning before our first period starts. Everyone in the building stops to read - students, teachers, janitors, administrators, the front desk, everyone. The entire building is still. It is a great way to start the day and the people that have probably been impacted the most - teachers. Before this year I couldn't remember the last time I read a book that I really wanted to read for enjoyment. Now everyone has a reason to find a great book to read and is constantly thinking about the next great book they want to read. Teachers now talk more about books at lunch and in the office more than ever. It also spills over into the rest of the day - I now read at night sometimes and I love it. I always used to be too busy and there was never time to read - now it is built into the day. Students are also now commonly carrying books to class - students ask if they can read their "SSR book" once they finish an assignment in another class. They ask to go to the media center so they can check out new books. You can hear students talking about a great book they read IN THEIR FREE TIME. Our principal also did something great - outside of his office door he posts a copy of the cover of all the books he has read this year - and most of them are young adult fiction novels. Teachers in our building were recently ask to write down the thing they really enjoyed about this school year and they were then posted on the wall in the offic - a large percentage of them were about how great SSR was this year.
Now for things we would like to change for next year: We want to advance a little from just having 20 minutes of silent reading each day. This works well for most students but some not really get much out of this time. A couple of months ago I read an incredible book about SSR named "Are They Really Reading" by Jodi Crum Marshall http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idProduct=337 The book describes an expanded SSR which includes a day a week of read alouds by the teacher and a day of silent writing about what they are reading. As a building we are currently looking at implementing a type of expanded SSR that includes these two elements as well as the silent reading. I have also been in a building that did SSR in the middle of the morning and it did not work as well as doing it to start off the day. Having to stop and read once you are half way through your morning is tough. Doing it at the start of the day gives you something to look forward to and is a great way to transition into the school day.
Hope that gives you some feedback. Read up on it a little and ask around and I think you will find it is a very powerful program that truly impacts an entire building.
Eric
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.108.178
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/18/2006 10:02:41 PM
How about wrapping the two up into some serious SSB, Silent Sustained Blogging?
It's good to hear your voice again. Missed ya. ;-)
Cheers,
Darren
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PING:
TITLE: ssst! iedereen leest
URL: http://blogger.xs4all.nl/elkedas/archive/2006/06/04/97584.aspx
IP: 194.109.35.16
BLOG NAME: elke's
DATE: 06/04/2006 07:07:32 AM
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Gut Check
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 05/18/2006 04:21:18 PM
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About a month ago, I pretty much quit blogging. I needed to take a deep breath and do a self-check. I'm glad that I did.
Right about the time I published my last podcast, a post I made a while back received some extra local attention. The post, along with some commentary about how my school district spends its money, was featured in a letter to the editor that ran in my local newspaper last Friday.
All that attention made me nervous and had me reconsidering being a teacher who writes openly about his school and work -- good, bad and ugly. Quite honestly, it IS easier to keep my head down and my mouth shut. But is it necessarily better for anyone that I do so? I don't believe that it is.
While I never wrote anything that I regret, and I still believe that openness is a good way to go, I think I was right to confirm that my administrators supported how I conduct myself both in the classroom and via the blog -- and that I'm successfully and appropriately navigating the grey spaces of blogging responsibly about education and my work.
After the cold sweats and a few days off, I'm ready to play again.
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AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: rachelj@stratford-primary.school.nz
IP: 202.180.89.51
URL: http://www.bardwired.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/06/2006 03:52:12 AM
I know how u feel Bud. It was the same day i happened to be listening to Steve Dembo say 'be careful what u say in yr podcast or write on yr blog - your employer might not like it' when i picked up an 'plz explain' email from my boss who had read a comment i wrote on another blog (i hope they're not reading this too ;-) But it makes you think about self-censorship. I don't write all that i would like to just for this reason & i work in so many different skls - i don't want to be seen to be 'telling tales'.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Barry
EMAIL: teacherbarry@barryfuller.com
IP: 67.109.212.20
URL: http://teacherbarry.blogspot.com/
DATE: 05/24/2006 10:11:46 AM
Glad to see you're back. Sorry that you had to doubt what you're doing, but I know what you're dealing with.
Keep up the good work!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/20/2006 09:49:58 PM
Sorry, that should've been "Clarence has a good point," not Nancy. I guess it's past my bedtime . . .
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karl Fisch
EMAIL: kfisch@lps.k12.co.us
IP: 67.176.104.145
URL: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/20/2006 09:47:45 PM
I think Nancy has a good point. I think this is a great example to share with our students (and our teachers) that what they write on the web really is out there for anybody to read, respond to, or use in another fashion. That's both the power and the peril of blogging (and other read/write web tools), and we really need to teach them how to use these tools wisely.
I currently have 18 teachers going through staff development where I'm asking them to blog - both on a class blog and on personal blogs - about their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. Many of them are also struggling with the "transparent" nature of blogging. While some of them have really run with it, others are still hesitant to put their thoughts out there for everyone to see. Obviously there are still privacy issues to be concerned about, and not everything should be blogged about, but I think this is a crucial step for many of our teachers to take to start coming to terms with the realities of the 21st century - both in education and in the rest of their lives. If we are going to adequately prepare our students for the "transparency" of the read/write web, we are going to need to get comfortable with it ourselves. We'll see how well my 18 teachers - and an additional 32 that come onboard in a second cohort in August - do as our staff development progresses.
I echo what everyone else said about being glad you're back. I missed your voice as part of the conversation.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Belshaw
EMAIL: mrbelshaw@gmail.com
IP: 88.109.92.119
URL: http://teaching.mrbelshaw.co.uk
DATE: 05/19/2006 04:19:50 PM
You're certainly right about it being easier to 'keep your head down'. But that's not why you, I or many other teachers came into the profession. We came into it to make a difference, to improve lives and to enhance learning experiences for those we come into contact with. A great way of developing yourself professionally is through blogging and participating in the wider conversation.
So keep it going, Bud - don't be put off by the naysayers...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mark Ahlness
EMAIL: mahlness@halcyon.com
IP: 24.17.20.4
URL: http://ahlness.com
DATE: 05/18/2006 10:40:13 PM
Bud, walking that fine line is so tricky. I'm feeling your anxiety. So many things I would like to say as well, things I believe NEED to be said and read, locally... but the personal risk is way too high. I am more of a coward than you.
I applaud your sense of ethics, right and wrong. Somehow I know I would be cheering for whatever you said. I salute you for sticking your neck out. I hope you will be OK, and I wish you all the best for a good end to your school year! - Mark
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brad Jolly
EMAIL: edu@topmath.info
IP: 66.17.169.219
URL:
DATE: 05/18/2006 09:28:17 PM
Bud, it's good to have you back blogging. The fact that you had "cold sweats" over telling the truth tells me that you are working in a dysfunctional system. If you had been making stuff up and simply lying about the people who repeatedly broke promises, then you should have a guilty conscience. I do not think you're the kind of guy who makes things up. I believe you told the truth, and taxpayers whose money was wasted and whose teachers were demoralized as a result deserved to know about it. Keep telling it as it is!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 72.2.13.42
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 05/18/2006 08:20:49 PM
I was beginning to wonder if you had left all of us behind and headed off to greener pastures. It is tough to see what we write here being used for purposes never intended, but this is something that we need to keep in mind. It's what we teach our kids about when we talk about global audience wiht them.
I'm glad to have your voice back again.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/18/2006 06:12:14 PM
Good to have you back, Bud!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: An Anniversary
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 05/12/2006 07:43:56 AM
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The gang at Worldbridges will be celebrating their one-year anniversary of live webcasting this weekend with a slew of events. If you can, stop by and say hello and congratulate them on their first year of providing help to teachers seeking to meaningfully integrate technology into their instruction.
Jeff and Dave -- thanks for a great year of reflection and conversation. I'm looking forward to year two.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Awareness Films
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 05/09/2006 03:06:33 PM
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I am very pleased to present to you the first in a series of short, educational "filmstrips" produced by the staff of OldeSchoolNews.com. We're calling them "Awareness Films." The first, produced by Zach, is called "Infection & You." Enjoy.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Larry Stone
EMAIL: bullstone@bellsouth.net
IP: 68.155.137.56
URL: http://www.larrymstone.com
DATE: 05/25/2006 12:42:21 PM
NATIONAL AND STATE OF FLORIDA PTA IGNORES POTENIAL SERIOUS FOOD HEALTH RISKS
http://bullstone-larrym.blogspot.com
There is an ALARMING food contamination issue that is being covered-up by the state of Florida and the USDA. I want to bring this issue to the attention of your readers. What if I told you there was a meat production plant that was infested with RATS and RAT FECAL MATTER & URINE had contaminated millions of pounds of meat products that the plant produced annually. This meat may still be in distribution and in freezers waiting to be consumed as it was never subject to a recall.
Also they used a CAT as one form of pest control in its warehouse, and CAT FECAL MATTER was also found in the meat production area. These meat products were shipped across the United States to elementary schools, national supermarket chains and hospitals nationwide. The Centers For Disease Control “CDC” has recently released reports stating that RODENT FECAL MATTER/URINE can cause up to six diseases in humans. CAT FECAL MATTER contains a parasite that causes serious birth defects.
We invite you to check out our blog at
http://bullstone-larrym.blogspot.com and see the evidence for yourself, with shocking pictures of the contamination of these meat products. Also posted are letters from government officials covering this issue? We invite you to read all the information, draw your own conclusions and post your comments. If this moves you gross negligence, please tell a friend and/or loved one about our mission.
Thank You,
Larry M. Stone
http://bullstone-larrym.blogspot.com/
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 05/11/2006 08:40:49 AM
Thanks for the kind words, y'all. Ben -- yep. This and other films are being produced by some of my journalism students. Darren -- I'll keep you posted. Tom -- Thanks for the heads up -- I'll check out the site.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom
EMAIL: twwoodward@henrico.k12.va.us
IP: 68.57.79.216
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher
DATE: 05/09/2006 10:37:00 PM
Bud,
Really fun stuff. I'm actually waiting for some video to render that I'll be posting in the next day or two.
This might work well with a site that's just starting out. It's called NextVista and is kind of like an open source United Streaming with teacher and student produced video content. A really interesting idea and some social educational goals as well. If you're interested check them out at http://www.nextvista.org/
Tom
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 204.112.135.26
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/09/2006 09:55:25 PM
Great work Bud! Please keep linking to the Olde School News when the kids publish another one. It was really fantastic.
Cheers,
Darren
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@rimestimes.net
IP: 24.7.252.173
URL: http://www.rimestimes.net
DATE: 05/09/2006 05:29:25 PM
Hilarious Bud! I especially loved Billy's high pitched voice. So sorry he had to suffer from the ill effects of EBV. Is this one of your classes producing these films?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Censorship on Every Continent
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 05/04/2006 04:03:36 PM
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Yikes.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Myspace, Myspace, Myspace
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Filtering
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 04/20/2006 11:17:05 PM
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Today's 5:00pm radio news update combined with the filtering conversations of late inspired this podcast. As always, first draft thinking. One note: I named a couple of different states. I was wrong about both of them. The news blip that pushed me over the edge today happened in Kansas.
Links:
Bloggers mentioned in this podcast include:
- Miguel Guhlin
- Wesley Fryer
- Andy Carvin
- Christopher Harris
- Doug Noon (On a tangent, Doug has a really fascinating and introspective post on being a witness that you should really, really take the time to read. Then again, all of the bloggers in this list are usually worth reading.)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Cleaning Up
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 04/19/2006 09:15:45 PM
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Spent some time tonight cleaning up the links on the main page to more accurately reflect what I'm trying to read right now. Also returned to some good old blogging 101 practice by spending some time commenting on the work of others.
I find that usually, if I can't formulate my own thoughts, the best thing I can do as a writer and as a thinker is to respond or react to the ideas of others. Not only does such an investment in the blogging community help me to get my thinking straight -- but I think that it helps to strengthen the loose ties that bind all of us together.
Thanks to all of you who spend some of your precious time here reading, thinking, and responding. Know that you're constantly making me think.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 68.84.32.241
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 04/22/2006 06:53:04 PM
*whew* Still made the cut... :)
Good to see you posting more often, now I just have to get back into the habit of posting again.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What's That You Say?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 04/19/2006 09:11:41 PM
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So just saying MySpace might be a censorable offense in some school districts. (MySpace. MySpace. MySpace. There.) Such a ridiculous action is what happens when we let technology do the work that we should be doing in the first place -- paying attention to what our students are doing online at school.
Miguel, I'm somewhere between you and Tom on this one. How about we name names?
Andy Carvin has. (Speaking of Andy's blog, take a look at the really interesting and somewhat sad first comment to this post to see the rationale behind this anonymously maintained collection of edublogs.)
Who is that masked librarian? Will sneaking RSS feeds into a school really accomplish anything? And has it really come to this?
(UPDATE: Will's started this wiki to collect known instances of blog blocking. Please contribute if you know of any. Thanks!)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Look, Ma -- I'm Learnin'
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/19/2006 04:01:23 PM
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I attended my first Discovery Education Ed Tech Connect Webinar this afternoon. Steve Dembo was presenting on mobile technology -- between the topic and the presenter, I knew there'd be good stuff to, ahem, discover.
I was right.
Mobile Internet tools and devices are everywhere and I've got some learning to do. I really dislike Internet access via the cell phone -- but that's my problem. Tools like cell phones and portable gaming systems seem really handy for linking students to information via tools that they already have. Steve mentioned a ton of handy resources for mobile users and for teachers wanting to create content for a mobile audience.
One idea that is making my head spin is the concept of semacodes. I've got some thinking to do about those. Are any of you using them? Please tell us about what you're up to if you are. (Here's a link to one project that Steve mentioned that I think could be a great reason for students create informational websites about local sites of interest.)
Head on over and check out the recorded presentation. It'll be posted at Discovery's Ed Tech Connect site soon.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Blake
EMAIL: blakej78@mac.com
IP: 71.1.208.149
URL: http://web.mac.com/blake78
DATE: 04/19/2006 05:27:11 PM
I participated in/listened to Steve's webinar today. I kept having to log out and log back in so the screens would advance. You asked if anyone has tried this in our classroom. I had a student bring in his PSP in December. He wanted to upload mp3 files on it he had stolen from the web. The download is way too slow for me to mess with in a classroom setting. Also, I use OS X and most of the hacking software I could find then was for XP. Steve mentioned the firmware had been upgraded. I wonder if that was part of our problem. We tried to use the wireless feature, but could not get it to work. I needed more professional development on PSPs to get it to work. If I can talk that kid into loaning me the device again, I will try some of Steve's tricks. Cell phones-- no. We live in a rural area and most of my students do not have web on their cellphones due to sorry cell phone service. One or two have cameras, but they are to afraid to run over their minutes. When it comes right down to a choice between using minutes to talk to their friends or burn them on educational use, what do you think they will pick? No-brainer.
I do want to teach them how to access the bookmark sites and mob5. They may like that. It is free and they might want to use it for fun things like cheat code sites, and MySpace mobile features. Most all my students know about AOL on their cell phones.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: It's Not a Good Week
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/18/2006 06:09:44 AM
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Our community lost a young man this week in a situation that, frankly, frightens me. Last week, a shooting of the boyfriend of one of our alumni occurred. The two events are related -- both gang-involved events. Horrible events, at that.
When I was at the gym last evening, I took occasional glances at the TV screens on the wall in front of my workout equipment. Almost all of the nine channels were turned to local or national news channels. All of those were flashing images of the recent developments in the Holloway case. How many times do we need to hear that particular story? Certainly, the disappearance of someone's daughter is news and awful news at that; but how did that particular young lady's story capture the attention of so many reporters, while other deaths and disappearances didn't or don't make a mark?
Why do some stories get so much attention in the media, while others are neglected?
And how do teachers deal with the real issues of the day in the midst of frightening extracurricular events like these? Frankly, learning about language arts right now doesn't seem all that important.
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AUTHOR: ricki
EMAIL: ecorbett@nospam.netcommander.com
IP: 164.58.125.210
URL:
DATE: 04/19/2006 12:07:30 PM
I have to admit that the Natalee case makes me kind of sick at my stomach - all of the resources that have been expended on her, all of the energy that has been spent mourning her - and yet, every day in this country, younger and more innocent kids have worse happen to them, but because they're not pretty and blonde and budding sexually and have a parent who's going to bulldog her way onto the networks...you never hear anything about them.
Maybe I'm callous, but I look at the Holloway case and see a spoiled drunk rich girl who made a really bad choice, a choice that ended her life. Maybe it works as a cautionary tale for other young women (don't drink alone, don't accept drinks from strange people, don't become impaired unless you have a big circle of people you can trust implicitly to take care of you) but all the attention the case gets borders on parody for me.
And I am also disgusted by the case - by the way cases like this (and earlier, the Smart case and the missing-intern case) become the cause celebre and it's the ONLY thing you hear about - to the exclusion sometimes of bigger deeper more important geopolitical stories.
I've seen the "tragic circumstances" students - I'm a college prof and I've had students have miscarriages, have close relatives killed, wind up as a sole caretaker for a parent with a terminal illness...and it's really hard NOT to feel useless at a time like that, to have the sense of "why am I expecting them to be able to do pH analysis when they lost the baby they were expecting?" But you soldier on, and you remind yourself that for some people, going to school in the midst of chaos is a taste of normalcy (I've had students tell me that) and it's welcome to them.
I had similar feelings after 9/11/01 - I spent more than a week fighting with the idea that what I should really be teaching my students was basic first aid, and how to build a shelter in the wilderness, and which plants were edible and which were poisonous.
but I don't know. Like I said, you find some way to soldier on even if that means putting on a good face in the classroom (and repeating "taste of normalcy" over and over again in your mind) and then going into your office, closing the door, and putting your head down on your desk because you're overwhelmed.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@rimestimes.net
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.rimestimes.net
DATE: 04/19/2006 09:55:48 AM
I agree with Tom, Bud. I don't think any of us really have a nice way of dealing with a tragedy such as those you've experienced. And to try and answer how I deal with these issues may seem impractical to the next teacher. I do know that being honest and open about your thoughts and feelings with those around you helps (sorry for the after-school special moment there).
You already have a great start at coping with the losses through the community you've created here and no doubt have with your students as well.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rob
EMAIL: rcwhester@yahoo.com
IP: 67.183.135.146
URL: http://thejourneyofastudent.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/19/2006 09:07:34 AM
I had a situation yesterday while I was backing out of a parking space and a high school boy nearly rear ended me as he zoomed around the corner. When I drove over to confront him he started swearing obscenities at me and I did the same and drove away, but it really got me thinking about how I responded. I started to think about how angry that boy was and how I am going to deal with that anger when I become a teacher. What a difficult task.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: liz
EMAIL: ponytrax@batnet.com
IP: 67.103.237.154
URL: http://lizditz.typepad.com
DATE: 04/18/2006 09:07:35 PM
Dear Bud, I am so sorry that you (and your students) are having such sorrow.
Language arts--indeed I think by telling the age-old stories -- the Greek myths are full of gore, random violence,family violence, and loss; the Illiad & the Odyssey, the Greek dramas (Iphegenia comes to mind), Shakespeare, first in terms the kids can grasp then dipping into the original language.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Stephen Lazar
EMAIL: outsidethecave@gmail.com
IP: 24.193.197.144
URL: http://outsidethecave.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/18/2006 06:56:26 PM
Natalee Holloway is a blonde white girl. White girls going missing is a "news" story. Black and brown children who go missing get almost no coverage. This happens time and time again. There was a good piece in the New York Times about this back in August by Rick Lyman (unfortunatly requires subscription at this point).
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom
EMAIL: bionicteacher@gmail.com
IP: 141.166.151.38
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher
DATE: 04/18/2006 03:27:07 PM
Bud,
That's something I struggled with every day at my former school. It was a place for students with discipline issues but the problems were usually caused by utter chaos in their lives and environment.
It really got to me that I couldn't help them in so many of the areas where they really needed help. Not that I saw myself as their savior but I cared about those kids (I still do).
How do you make learning state material seem relevant when their friends and family are dying? Why should a girl who was raped by her mother's various boyfriends care about anything I had to say? I tried hard to at least make it fun but in the back of my mind on many days was the thought that I wouldn't even show up to school if I'd been through half of what these kids have experienced.
I was busy trying to cram SOL material into their heads when I really felt like they needed something else. It's students like these- who are living in unsafe environments, who've been violated by family members, who are esentially raising themselves- that seem to be get the short end of the stick no matter what.
Of course I can't answer your questions, not that I think anyone could but I can echo your feelings. I think a lot of teachers out there can. I just had to rationalize that if, if I could just teach them enough and maybe be a decent example I might be able to change an action here or there so they might not repeat the cycle. Maybe.
Like I said, a rationalization and naive but what I had to do.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lani
EMAIL: upstatesocialite@media-file.net
IP: 207.67.146.85
URL:
DATE: 04/18/2006 03:16:01 PM
Her mother kept Natalie's name in the news. www.Foxnews.com has consistently posted up to date Natalee news for a whole year.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Go Back to the Basics
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 04/14/2006 09:06:25 PM
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Terry Freedman has some useful reminders on how not to make an educational technology lesson boring.. Actually, he's written a pretty good reminder of how to plan good lessons.
Here's a piece of the well written and quite handy post:
The teacher spends too much time talking
Most people learn by doing. Even teachers mostly learn by practising
teaching, not reading about it or listening to someone else talk about
it. Yet I have observed lessons in which, out of a 55 minute lesson,
the teacher spoke for 45 minutes. It gets worse. In those sorts of
lessons, the teacher loves his own voice so much that the 10 minutes
the pupils actually get to do something do not come in one chunk, but
in two or three blocks of a few minutes each. Typically, the teacher
says, “OK, now I’d like you to try that yourself. Remember, you select
the text and then click on the B to make it bold.” This leads on to
another characteristic of such lessons, that of boring activities.”
It may sound harsh, but as another consultant said to me recently,
quite often teachers prevent learning, and that they should get out of
the way and allow the pupils to learn!
When I started teaching and giving conference presentations, I used to feel like I was "cheating "when I would introduce an idea or a concept and then give the students or conference participants time to actually get their hands dirty with that idea, either through a simulation or a time for hands on work. Since I wasn't filling the session with me, it sometimes felt like I wasn't performing in the proper role of a teacher. Of course, I was wrong, even though sometimes I still feel that way. I find, though, that I get the most positive feedback when I do the least amount of talking.
Weird, huh? It seems almost counter-intuitive -- but it works.
I encourage you to check out the full post.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pamela
EMAIL: prthom7@yahoo.com
IP: 70.160.240.167
URL: http://prthom7.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/24/2006 04:44:36 PM
Hi,
Thank you for the advice. I am a pre-service teacher, and this point is emphasized so much in my classes. I responded to this blog on my blog, if you would like to read it and post any more ideas that would be GREAT.
Just a side note, I am in Sheryl's tech class at William and Mary. She is one of the biggest advocators for constructivism.
Thanks for a great post, Pam
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sheryl
EMAIL: snbeach@cox.net
IP: 70.160.174.8
URL: http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/
DATE: 04/16/2006 06:29:54 PM
What an awesome post. I remember my point of reckoning on this one. I called myself a constructivist as I engaged students in my instructional tech courses at the College of William and Mary. Then I took a Educational Technology Planning course from Dr. Gene Roche. http://www.generoche.net/blog/ and it rocked my world. I realized at that moment--I had talked about constructivism mostly from my podium. Gene-- he lived it. His class truly redefined my self-concept and has changed my teaching forever. Now my students do most of the teaching and we learn together.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.138.13
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/16/2006 04:14:15 PM
The old "teacher" mindset is that of sage with a bevy of students surrounding them under an oak tree as they learn the wisdom of the ages. Socrates and Plato originated this method and for some reason it permeates our mentality. I guess it had to be that way when paper was expensive/nonexistent and much of learning was verbal.
However, now, there is simply no excuse for a teacher talking for 50 minutes. If I have to "talk" I use the Socratic method and teach by asking questions -- they talk as much if not more than I. However, I more often like to venture onto our wiki space, blogs, or if a demonstration is involved, assign the demonstration to student pairs so they do the talking and I fill in the gaps.
Interestingly, the only students I have "trouble" with are those whose parents are retired teachers. They've asked me when I'm going to "teach" and why they are doing all the "teaching." It is an old mindset that I take issue with. When I "teach" the majority of the time students don't "learn." When I make them active participants in "teaching" they become active "learners."
I agree with you 100% Bud. I wonder how many college professors to educators model effective "teaching" such as this.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: The Post and Our Buddy George
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 04/12/2006 12:45:48 AM
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My spring break is now over, and it's back to work. Today's podcast is some "clearing the cobwebs" first draft thinking about the recent Washington Post article on teachers blogging as well as a conversation about George and educational experimentation. In the middle, I'm also asking about bandwidth and how it can get in the way of using new tools in the classroom. (By the way, have you taken a look at Celestia yet? Well worth your time.)
Somewhere in there, too, I mentioned Darren's recent pronunciation post. I'm so lucky to have such an easy name. Bud. Just falls right off the tongue, huh?
As always, I'm curious to know your thoughts.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 204.158.181.36
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 04/18/2006 07:36:52 AM
A Call to Disobedience
http://feeds.feedburner.com/mguhlin?m=735
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jeff Utecht
EMAIL: thinkingstick@gmail.com
IP: 61.129.106.134
URL: http://www.thethinkingstick.com
DATE: 04/16/2006 06:29:19 PM
Bud,
Great podcast, glad you're back. Thanks for making the clarification between experimenting ON students and experimenting WITH students. A great clarification that I think needed to be made.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 141.150.93.14
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 04/16/2006 08:14:06 AM
Bud,
One more thing...
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/04/08/podcast51-discovering-google-earth/
Wesley hits some of your points about how to use Google Earth in the curriculum and within standards...
- Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex Ragone
EMAIL: alex.ragone@gmail.com
IP: 141.150.93.14
URL: http://www.learning-blog.org
DATE: 04/14/2006 12:09:37 PM
Hi Bud,
I'm a Director of Technology for a private K-12 school in New York City. We have 620 students, about 325 machines.. We currently have dual T-1's but are looking to get a 10MBps connection (that can be scaled to 100Mbps or 1GBps). The Dual T's are $700/month. The 10Mbps connection is under $2000 per month. We keep using more bandwidth and I can't imagine when the thirst is going to stop.
We do lock down machines, but it's very easy to add software in our environment. I also give faculty admin access to their laptops or desktops. Your comments about locking down computers seems a lot like we've locked down education with NCLB. If you don't trust the user (or learner or teacher) then you don't let them do anything outside of the standards.
I've always taught in a private school (but went to public schools growing up) and the blogosphere has brought me views that are very scary as I have a 5, 2, and 4 month old at home and we are beginning the process of public schools. Thanks for giving me faith that we'll find teachers like you who care and are modeling exploratory teaching for their students.
- Alex
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.26.160
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/13/2006 03:37:39 PM
You got it right Bud; my name that is. ;-)
And you really nailed it solid with your comment that all someone needs in order to learn is curiosity.
I never did get a chance to congratulate you for the well deserved recognition in the Post -- congratulations!!
Cheers!
Darren
BTW I think Guhlin is pronounced "goo-lin." ;-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Glenn E. Malone
EMAIL: malonege@gmail.com
IP: 67.168.112.159
URL: http://peptechtalk.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/12/2006 08:03:03 PM
Just finished listening to the podcast and playing with Celestia while listening. Both cool!
I am a Director of Technology Planning in a 20,000 student district in Washington and we are experiencing the same issues. In my position I advocate for teachers, principals and students; there is a separate Director of Technology responsible for the network, information systems and desktop support. He is retired miltary and has a logistics background...I was a elementary principal for 15 years and taught 3rd 4th and 5th grade.
He's a George and I'm a Bud.
Bandwidth is an issue but teachers aren't restricted from downloading Firefox, Celestia or Google Earth onto their Laptop. All 1200 teachers have their own laptop and the statement they hear is that they will receive the best performance from their HP NX7010 if they do not download any programs. But there is nothing that would prevent them from downloading or adding anything. If they have a malfunction the laptop is collected and they are given another laptop with the identical image as on day one. Their old laptop is reimaged and reissued to the next teacher with an issue. The CTE department is impressed with their first look at Deep Freeze for student computers and the tech department is excited to add it to as many computers as possible.
Another issue is website restrictions, currently we use BESS from N2H2 and Secure Computing; I find it to be pretty open. Wikipedia, Blogger, Flickr, WikiSpaces and many other wikis, blogs and social web sites considered "Loopholes" are not currently blocked. But I can feel the MySpace paranoia coming with George in the lead. Recently George was clicking on the "Next Blog" button on my Blogger site and said he had pornography on his computer within 3 clicks. The Director of Communications, another George type personality said she was "shocked and amazed" when she clicked on the "Next Blog" button on my blog and was able to see pornography. I have tried to replicate the experience and I have clicked that "Next Blog" button for almost 30 minutes and never saw anything that I would consider pornographic...
We share many of the same issues and yet I have no solutions to offer.
PS. Well deserved Washington Post mention.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 04/12/2006 06:44:46 PM
Bud, I have to admire your courage in sharing your thoughts in a podcast. After listening to your latest, I was inspired to go ahead and create a podcast of my own (should be posted later tonight).
I couldn't stop laughing at some points in your podcast, especially the part about your "new" podcast studio, and how the last one went into a ditch.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reminding us all that a podcast doesn't have to be professionally edited, breathtaking music, and scripted. Instead, it can be honest, direct, and spoken without aids to enhance it. Simply, a human voice speaking.
Great job!
Take care,
Miguel Guhlin
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Welcome, Post Readers
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 04/04/2006 10:23:54 AM
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Welcome to those of you stopping by via the Washington Post. I'm honored to have been mentioned in one of their stories on educational blogging. Blogging has transformed my practice as a teacher by demonstrating to me that the best way to learn something is to try to communicate it to someone else in an honest, thoughtful manner. Our students, as writers, can use blogs to record their thinking, share resources, develop ideas and opinions, and link to, process, and sometimes challenge the ideas of others.
I tell my story via this blog as a way to help me understand my experiences. Usually, those experiences are helpful to others.
If you're a teacher, and you're interested in how blogging can be a tool for both professional reflection as well as a tool for improving student achievement through reading, writing, and thinking, then I think you've made the right first step by visiting a blog or two. I heartily encourage you to begin reading blogs (Will Richardson provides a great resource for you to use to find many of the good ones, and I've got many of my favorites to the right of this post on my website.)
Then start blogging yourself. I've got a collection of resources for helping you to get started with your students over at my wiki. Feel free to e-mail me if you need help or suggestions as you move online with your students. You might be interested in this post if you need a rationale for why blogging with students can be transformative.
If you're a parent concerned about the safety of putting student work online, thank you. I'm glad you're engaged and interested in the education of your child or children. There are many great resources available for you to use to help navigate online worlds with your child, but let me suggest to you that the real trick to helping your student be safe in an increasingly online world is to remain involved in their activities. Read their work, know who they talk to. Be involved, if possible.
And remind them that the Internet is a public place, and they should act accordingly.
There is great potential in helping students to create meaningful work, writing and multimedia that can be read and shared with the entire world. I am constantly amazed by the quality of work that my students create when they are held to high standards and have the opportunity to share what they do with a real audience of readers. I know you will be, too.
If I can be of service to you as you navigate the power and potential of classroom blogging, please let me know by leaving a comment to this post or by sending me an e-mail. And, if you start a blog yourself, be sure to share and let us know where to find you.
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AUTHOR: Rob
EMAIL: rcwhester@yahoo.com
IP: 67.183.135.146
URL: http://thejourneyofastudent.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/10/2006 08:52:54 PM
Wonderful comments on why blogging can be useful in the classroom. I started my blog geared towards education as an assignment that I had to develop myself for a college course last quarter. I find the resources I come across to be very helpful and I enjoy writing my thoughts down rather than leaving them couped up inside my head. I'll be back.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL:
IP: 24.7.252.173
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 04/08/2006 09:28:27 AM
Congrats on the nod from the Washington Post Bud! An impressive feat for sure with the edublogosphere as large as it is and evergrowing. Of course, now you're under even more pressure to deliver :) Enjoy the limelight.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: DCS
EMAIL:
IP: 70.130.213.64
URL: http://dcsistrunk.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/07/2006 01:05:53 PM
Lurking?? LOL! I'm an instant fan. Keep up the wonderful work.
Dave is right. You are very cool!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dave cormier
EMAIL: dave@edtechtalk.com
IP: 137.149.66.146
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 04/07/2006 06:08:10 AM
I told you you were cool!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: elementaryhistoryteacher
EMAIL: teachingsocialstudies@consultant.com
IP: 68.223.104.81
URL: http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/05/2006 05:56:57 PM
I've been lurking for awhile reading your informative posts. I try to post everyday and I'll admit it doesn't always happen. I do know one thing....blogging has improved my writing and it has had an effect on my teaching. I've found fantastic ideas others have shared and I find that many of the opinions and beliefs I have are shared by others across the nation. I find that very empowering. I see real value in getting students to blog as well, and am currently thinking through a process to be able to have fourth graders participate.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: DCS
EMAIL: dcsistrunk@yahoo.com
IP: 70.130.213.64
URL: http://dcsistrunk.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/04/2006 03:18:28 PM
Thanks for the welcome, Bud. Yes, I did find you via the Washington Post article on blogging by teachers. :-)
You have a very resourceful site. Look for me to visit often.
I, too, write about issues related to education and culture. If you're interested in networking, look for me online at Education by Sistrunk or Media By Sistrunk.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Spring Break -- Taking a Break
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/03/2006 01:48:46 PM
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Today marks the first day of a week of vacation. See you somewhere around the middle or end, depending on how much I enjoy my respite.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jo McLeay
EMAIL: jbmcleay@gmail.com
IP: 210.8.187.106
URL: http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/03/2006 03:52:17 PM
Bud, you have a well deserved break. We just has a two week break and now it is definitely autumn for us. I hope spring is rejuvenating for you.
Jo
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Monday is a Good Day for Poetry
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
DATE: 03/27/2006 04:36:40 PM
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Chris' (or is it Chris's?) posting of Taylor Mali's poetry reminded me of this poem, one I think I like better, although Mali's performance of "What Teachers Make" is far more dynamic:
Undivided attention
By Taylor Mali
www.taylormali.com
A grand piano wrapped in quilted pads by movers,
tied up with canvas straps - like classical music's
birthday gift to the insane -
is gently nudged without its legs
out an eighth-floor window on 62nd street.
It dangles in April air from the neck of the movers' crane,
Chopin-shiny black lacquer squares
and dirty white crisscross patterns hanging like the second-to-last
note of a concerto played on the edge of the seat,
the edge of tears, the edge of eight stories up going over, and
I'm trying to teach math in the building across the street.
Who can teach when there are such lessons to be learned?
All the greatest common factors are delivered by
long-necked cranes and flatbed trucks
or come through everything, even air.
Like snow.
See, snow falls for the first time every year, and every year
my students rush to the window
as if snow were more interesting than math,
which, of course, it is.
So please.
Let me teach like a Steinway,
spinning slowly in April air,
so almost-falling, so hinderingly
dangling from the neck of the movers' crane.
So on the edge of losing everything.
Let me teach like the first snow, falling.
Remember, y'all, that National Poetry Month is only a few short days away. I hope you're all preparing your poetic contributions. For those of you more interested in reading good poems instead of writing them, you can always subscribe to the Poem a Day e-mail service of the Academy of American Poets.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anita
EMAIL: anitabezic@yahoo.com
IP: 213.250.62.137
URL: http://anitaslo.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/04/2006 05:00:31 PM
Bud, this post is a godsent for me today. I'm glad I found it with couple of days' delay, because TODAY I need it. :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 03/27/2006 07:44:05 PM
You're exactly right -- but I really needed a feel good poem today.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 68.84.32.241
URL: http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity
DATE: 03/27/2006 07:08:50 PM
Poetically, I agree... politically, "What Teachers Make" just fit the mood better.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Keep Your Options Open
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Space
DATE: 03/27/2006 03:04:49 PM
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If anybody ever tells you that it's impossible to leave the Earth while inside a classroom, you show them this:
On March 21, 2006 students at Coloma Junior High School in Coloma,
MI had the privilege of talking to astronaut Bill McArthur aboard the
International Space Station during an unscheduled school contact as the
ISS flew over Michigan.
From 16:50 UTC to 16:54 UTC (11:50 to 11:54 am local time), 24 students in Matt Severin’s 4th
hour Earth Science class listened in on a short conversation between
Bill McArthur and Mr. Severin (KG4EDK). When astronaut McArthur asked
if any of Mr. Severin’s students were with him, 24 faces lit up with
broad smiles as students realized that this was real: an astronaut 220
miles overhead was asking about them! McArthur stated “We sure think
Earth Science is important…we live it everyday as we observe the Earth
and it’s truly spectacular.” The conversation ended with a
motivational greeting from the International Space Station with Bill
McArthur encouraging Coloma students to “…get the best education [they]
can…”
Later that afternoon 13 more students had the opportunity to not
only listen in on a conversation, but also participate in the contact!
About 15 minutes before the scheduled pass, Mr. Severin greeted his
students with a note card and a task: write down a question that you
would ask an astronaut if given the opportunity. Mr. Severin
established contact with the ISS at 19:58 UTC (2:58 pm local time), and
passed the microphone to the first student, Monica, who asked: “What is
the food like?” No one could keep a straight face when the microphone
was passed to him or her. Even Mr. Severin had achy cheeks after the
contact because he was smiling so much. In the end, each student that
wanted, asked his or her question, and astronaut McArthur answered with
great detail. McArthur described some of his daily activities, his
favorite food (lamb with vegetables), and the level of education
required to become an astronaut. The contact ended at 20:08 UTC (3:08
pm local time) as Bill McArthur’s final transmission to Coloma Junior
High school faded into the static.
Listen to the conversations here. Very cool.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Why? Let Me Tell You Why . . .
STATUS: Draft
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DATE: 03/26/2006 10:41:02 PM
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In the comments to a recent post of Will's, as well as a post of his own, Christopher Sessums
When I first began blogging, I wrote about some of the reasons why I was trying out the technology, as well as why I thought blogging was a tool that had potential for students. Fourteen months later, what I wrote then is still true, anthough I write for additional reasons now.
For one thing, I found a voice. THere is something mildly intoxicating about the idea that I can publish my ideas immediately to a potential worldwide audience. Do I reach the entire world? Heavens, no. But I do reach teachers and policy makers who are influenced, if even slightly, by what I have to say.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: No Stories Left Behind
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Professional Development
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Weblogs
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 03/26/2006 10:10:49 PM
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Will wrote a post recently that is
helping me to connect with a problem that might be beginning to stir in my
blog, as well as others. He writes/asks:
I read lots of stories about kids who are getting it, even in Doug's post,
where they are reading and writing and commenting and learning. You read Bud or
Clarence or
Vicki or any
number of others and there are stories that border on transformation. (In fact,
Vicki's latest post is titled "My students inspire me as they
"get" Web 2.0.") But I don't read much about the kids that
aren't engaged. And I'm wondering to what extent that happens as well. And
further, I'm wondering to what extent they compare to the adult educators we're
trying to teach about these tools who choose not to engage. The simple view is
that this is generational, that kids are more available to the tools because
they live in a connected world or because, well, they're kids and more open to
new stuff than adults...but is it?
I don't think that it's as simple as a generational thing. I don't
think Will thinks that, either, but I do understand where he's coming
from. Generation M is plugged in, right? The rest of us are trying
to catch up.
Except that's not true. Will has something like two
decades of educational experience. David Warlick has as much if not
more. Barbara Ganley didn't start teaching last week. Other
teachers in the blogosphere are not new to teaching, but might be the early
adopters of new technologies in their schools, districts and/or
communities. I've only been teaching for four years, so maybe much of Web
2.0 comes easily to me.
But that's not why I'm writing tonight, even though the
question of why blogging is or isn't for everyone is an important one, worthy
of lots of conversation by folks smarter than I.
I'm writing because I see a potential problem developing in
and among the edublogosphere that is becoming more and more my professional
space.
A few months ago, my wife and I published, in English
Journal, a column entitled, "Why I Despise Nancie Atwell" by Sarah
J.H. Brooks. (Note: The link requires a paid subscription to the journal for viewing. Sorry.) The well-written piece is about the author's frustration
with best practice texts, specifically In the Middle, one of those books that
my generation of reading and writing teachers is and should be devouring in
preservice coursework. She’s frustrated because she only sees the success
stories, and not the stuff that didn’t go so well. Let me be clear: the Brooks' piece is in no way a condemnation of Atwell's work. We need best practices texts, and Atwell's text continues to inform my practice as a language arts teacher.
But best practices don't work for every teacher, in every classroom, on every day.
Best practice texts are, largely, excellent attempts to
share and promote those lessons, activities, and philosophies that are, at
least in theory, "proven" to be successful in a variety of
educational contexts. Best practice texts, written by exceptional
educators, have informed my practice, and will continue to do so.
Many of the blogs that are in the sidebar to the right of
this post on my site are, in my humble opinion, some of the best practice texts
of using technology in education. I value the good ideas and lessons that
my colleagues in the edublogosphere are sharing on a daily basis.
The only problem with best practice texts, too often at
least, is that they turn classrooms into Mickey Mouse spaces where all goes
well and there's never any trouble. Every student in these books finds
success in the classroom. At least, that's how the texts present
classrooms.
Again, this is not universal; many good texts share failures
as well as successes, but not nearly enough.
I do not want this blog to become a text that misinforms as
it informs. Nor do I want to read blogs
that paint stories of success while ignoring the stories of students lost or
unsuccessful along the way.
We aren’t
going to learn anything by merely telling half of the story. And omission, intentional or otherwise, may
blur the narrative.
Now, I’m not saying that this is happening, but, as I
prepare to embark on a larger blogging project than I’ve ever undertaken, I
want to make a public reminder to myself to tell as much of the story as I can,
without shading or blurring information in any way.
And
I think it’s reasonable to ask that those of you who are also blogging to do
the same.
I know many bloggers are doing just that. I encourage them to keep it up. Let's make sure that Will, and all of the rest of us, aren't missing the stories of those students not engaged by these technologies.
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AUTHOR: Clay Burell
EMAIL: clayburell@gmail.com
IP: 203.142.165.30
URL: http://beyond-school.org
DATE: 12/07/2007 06:35:15 PM
I've been chronicling my failures with classroom blogging since I started a year ago. The latest is here.
That's why I think the Students 2oh edublog is a fertile direction to take student blogging. A coalition of the willing, beyond school, so to speak, of students blogging as writers, not as students, on a platform removed from the schoolhouse altogether.
We have to admit that as long as it's homework, in their minds, it's going to have a taint of inauthenticity to it - don't we?
Enjoyed your post, Bud.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mark Ahlness
EMAIL: mahlness@halcyon.com
IP: 24.17.20.4
URL: http://ahlness.com
DATE: 06/04/2006 11:12:47 AM
Bud, I have come late to the dance, but it is a busy time in the classroom. I have to say I find a lot of this discussion distressing to me because I do not believe the good news, the success stories are out there yet. Not even close. To be sure we include information about each and every Johnny or Linda who doesn't get hooked on blogging is just bending over backward way too far in an effort to be PC. I'll be quiet now and refer you to the writing of my third graders. This, I believe, is where we still need to put our efforts now - the good news, the exciting news. It may seem old hat within our small circles, but the general public does not have a clue of the transformation happening in some classrooms.
My classroom blog - see their entries on 6/2, and remember these are 8 and 9 year olds.
I wrote abut their writing, with excerpts, on my blog
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Marco Polo
EMAIL: marco47jp@yahoo.co.uk
IP: 61.86.34.139
URL: http://autonolearner.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/31/2006 01:23:15 AM
Good point, but I don't think you need worry. You wrote, "We aren’t going to learn anything by merely telling half of the story. And omission, intentional or otherwise, may blur the narrative." True, but the range and numbers of ed/tech people surfing blogtopia will make sure things balance out. There's always a few people who will write about failures just because no-one else seems to be. "We" are plural! In more senses than one, and "we" need all that plurality. Now, a problem might be that one is only READING the Pollyanna stories, because the other ones are certainly out there. I just blogged about one such myself yesterday.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.134.65
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/29/2006 12:58:45 PM
OK, Bud, I've pondered and I'm back again. I have chewed on this blog for a day and posted a blog entry on When best practices become the worst.
You've made the think and I thank you. I hope I never become a one sided Mickey Mouse blog as you've discussed in this post.
This is thought provoking post. Thank you for posting it! I hope you'll tell me your thoughts!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL:
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 03/29/2006 11:20:34 AM
Wow, you've hit the nail on the head, Bud! However, I don't just want to be another "yes-man" about edublogging as I see a not so clear dichotmy in edublogging. There exists a large number of teachers that use the edublogosphere to write about life in the classroom and their experiences. The other half of the edublogosphere is made of teachers, academics, and others that just want to disseminate ideas, theories, and the best practices to the rest of the educational world.
Both sides of the edublogosphere are further broken up into sub-cultures, as any community is. However, you're right when mentioning that teachers who blog to reflect need, and have a responsibility, to talk about their successes, failures, and give everyone an honest picture of what happens in their classroom. However, those educators that write about particular subjects, best practices, and ideas are focused on just their "side of the story." Does this make them beholden to providing both sides of the story, for better or worse? No, BUT if they don't take the time now and then to present both sides of the story they will come off as sounding less legitimate and unathentic.
So both sides of the edublogosphere benefit from providing the whole story. However, I feel that those "covering a particular beat" like videoconferencing, differentiation, best practices, etc. don't necessarily have to provide both sides of their theories or examples, but should if they desire to keep a decent readership. Of course, the desire to write for an audience versus just writing for your own reflection brings up an entirely different conversation.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 10.73.157.216
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org
DATE: 03/27/2006 06:09:00 PM
"Why I Despise Nancy Atwell." is a great title for a critical article about Best Practices. Whenever I *try* that stuff-things that are published in professional books and journals-I end up thinking that I must have a different kind of kids to work with than the published people did, or that maybe I'm doing it wrong, a possibility that we can thank Randy Newman for offering. One of the reasons that I want to have my students publish material online is to sidestep the editing that obviously goes into those articles and let the kids speak directly to readers. There is, of course, still some editing. But putting the kids' voices in the center of the project allows anyone who comes to it a chance to form their own conclusions.
In more than one workshop where a miracle worker flew in to show us how it's done (chose any subject area), someone has asked, "And this works for everyone?" Invariably the response is, "Well..."
Building new practices means heading into difficult and uncertain places. The misses can be far more instructive than the efforts that land on-target. Our work to understand and solve the very local problems that we confront in our classrooms each day defies canned approaches to teaching. There is no better recipe for success than sincerity, empathy, humility, inquisitiveness, and other very human qualities that seek expression in the growth of others. If anything worked all the time, we'd all be doing it. Right?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Barbara Ganley
EMAIL: ganley@middlebury.edu
IP: 69.54.26.124
URL: http://mt.middlebury.edu/middblogs/ganley/bgblogging
DATE: 03/27/2006 05:56:42 PM
Bud,
You make a good point about "best practices" can seem like "impossible practice," but I do think that we have to keep in mind what Graham says about how edubloggers are often trying to push our thinking as well as to chronicle the classroom experience.
I dove back into my own blog archives to see how many posts include references to failed classroom blogging or to those students who haven't taken to it. I found quite a few including one, Trouble in Blog Paradise, from almost exactly a year ago. I think we do talk about the failures in our own classrooms and why people around us abandon blogging, and how even with the most careful preparation, sometimes things don't work. So while I agree with Vicki about preparation and its relation to success in the classroom, I also know that some students really won't and don't take to it. But I don't see that as being left out or behind necessarily--that can have as much to do with learning style or personal interest or with much much more challenging flaws in our entire approach to education.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.0.218
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 03/27/2006 06:34:20 AM
I've been thinking about this myself lately as well. I've tried to be open and honest about the practices in my classroom. Blogging is great, but some kids only write because they have to. Podcasting is exciting, but some kids drag the assignments out and just get them finished under the wire of a deadline. And getting kids to write on our wiki can always be trouble for some of them. As we get used to have having "classrooms of glass," we need to go the extra step and be brave enough to discuss our difficulties and our failures as well.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.134.65
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/27/2006 06:23:47 AM
I think that any valid, sincere edublogger will blog on both sides of the issue as I also have tried to.
Another thing to remember is that a good teacher doesn't teach unless they are well prepared. Before I used Odeo in the classroom I had been using it for a week and had taught my 9 year old and 11 year old to do it.
Perhaps why it seems that there is success is that good teachers prepare and test the services and software before they use them in the classroom. Sure, there are times things don't work perfectly and I must include those things in my posts.
However, inherent in a teacher "doing his or her homework" as part of their lesson plan is a weeding out process that occurs for technologies that aren't working well.
Is there a disproportianate amount of "success" portrayed in the blogosphere. Probably. But I think you'll find the pioneers in anything have been and always will be optimists by nature. That is portrayed in the posts they make.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner@aapt.net.au
IP: 61.68.210.245
URL: http://www.gwegner.edublogs.org
DATE: 03/27/2006 03:27:21 AM
Bud, I think part of the reason you don't read as much about the misses in the edublogosphere has a lot to do with the best practices that are chronicled. Someone like myself who has at least as many misses as successes can feel a bit intimidated by all this cutting edge stuff - in fact I've blogged about it before. Somehow, we need to let edubloggers know that it's OK to talk about the flops, the near misses and the cries for help. Maybe Clarence, Anne, Darren and Barbara need to tell us all about a few groaners that have come their way. It does come back to your purpose for blogging - if it is to document your victories, be proactive in your professional thinking, highlight great things you have seen and done, then your blog won't have your warts out on display. Purpose doesn't have to be balanced (although it would make a lot of us feel less inferior!)
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PING:
TITLE: It's All About Engagement
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com/2006/03/27#a4899
IP: 64.62.151.3
BLOG NAME: Weblogg-ed - The Read/Write Web in the Classroom
DATE: 03/27/2006 09:05:53 AM
It's been interesting reading the threads that have developed around my " To Blog or Not to Blog...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Will Ya, Won't Ya Wiki?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Edtechbarn
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 03/24/2006 08:00:31 PM
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I don't know if I'll be able to make it, but the gang at EdTechTalk will be revisiting the Barnraising on Sunday. They're taking another shot at creating a solid, one-stop place for how-tos, whys and whatnots of Web 2.0 for the classroom. I hope that you can and will stop by, if not during the show time, then before or after, and edit where you think necessary, even if only to add a question.
Of course, I'm learning that there are several good places around the Internet where you can contribute your ideas and tips and information on how best to use Web 2.0 tools in your classroom and community. Here's one and here's another. (Aaron's trying to put together a podcasting wiki , too.) I'm sure you know of several more. Maybe we should at least try to get links to all of these great resources in one place. Maybe someone's already done it.
I'm learning that so many people are afraid to edit a wiki, either because they don't want to muddy someone else's water or they don't feel like they have anything to contribute.
If there's any lesson that we all need to learn about Web 2.0, it's that we all need to be muddying each other's water, and we all have something to contribute.
So go do some wiki-ing already.
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AUTHOR: Tadge
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL:
DATE: 03/27/2006 08:12:16 PM
Bud,
Thought that you might be interested in the following wiki from "Teaching Hacks" Quentin D'Souza. Just ran across it today. I am planning on signing in on the Ed Tech Talk as soon as I get my head above water:)
Have a good one,
Tadge
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Giovanni Rodriguez
EMAIL: giovanni@eastwick.com
IP: 24.6.170.94
URL: http://www.eastwick.com
DATE: 03/25/2006 03:37:24 PM
I am writing a series on best practices in wiki-based collaboration. If you have any other links to great blogs in education, I’d love to hear from you.
http://eastwikkers.typepad.com/eastwikkers_/2006/03
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Space? I went there this morning.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Science
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 03/24/2006 02:10:19 PM
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Ben, or one of his commenters, recently pointed his readers to Celestia, a free space exploration program. Since I happen to be one of them (his readers, not space exploration programs), I took the opportunity to download the software. I didn't do much with it, but I thought it was a neat piece of software for space simulation.
Our science teacher today asked me if I could help her put together something for a look at astronomy that she's doing next quarter. I recommended Celestia and proceeded to figure out if we could get it onto our school computers. We can.
Then I tried to figure out some of the more useful student features. It didn't take me long to find out that Celestia is a BIG DEAL. This site is a ginormous collection of resources, all free, that you can use to customize Celestia. More better (Yeah, I said "more better." And I'm an English teacher. But it really is that good.), some really smart folks have created some really handy educational tours for free consumption and use with students. Very, very cool. There are geographical tours as well as lessons on terraforming and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Amazing and really well done stuff.
One note -- if you do want to use the educational resources for Celestia (and if you take a peek, you will), make sure that you download the educational version of the program from the Motherlode website. You need it to make everything work.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.166.51.105
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 03/24/2006 07:04:36 PM
Oops. Corrected. Thanks, Doug.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 10.73.157.216
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org
DATE: 03/24/2006 06:19:23 PM
I haven't been there yet, but when I followed the link I got an error message. A Google search reveals that you're using a dot in place of a slash in the link. It should look like http://www.shatters.net/celestia/
Now, back to my regularly scheduled goofing off...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE:
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DATE: 03/21/2006 11:20:47 PM
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All isn't awful at school. My science fiction course is ending splendidly, thanks to a handy resource that I discovered a few weeks ago. Here's our final assignment, something I'm calling our class anthology, being conducted via a discussion forum in the class Moodle:
This is the forum for posting your story and questions as well as
the place for you to respond to the stories of others. To earn full
credit for this assignment, you must have:
1. A story that you
have selected (create your own post for this story and use the story's
title as the title of your post). Make sure that you post a link to
the story in your description. (Highlight some of your text and click
the chainlink button, then enter the web address of your story. If you do it right, your text will look like this.)
2.
A short description of the story that doesn't give away the ending as
well as some questions for discussion. What did you find interesting?
What big idea is in the story? See me if you need help coming up with
questions.
3. Responses to two stories that other members of the
class selected. I consider responses to be multi-paragraph posts about
the questions that folks have asked. Write these as replies to the
original story post.
4. Be sure to check back on the stories
that you write about. I'm hoping that you will have a conversation
about what you read. To that end, I will give you up to twenty bonus
points for writing multiple posts about the same story (4 points per
additional response). Questions? Ask me.
My students are using the SciFi Channel's online collection of short fiction to create a class anthology. It's nothing super-fancy, but it's a minor re-mix of the SciFi Channel's collection, and my students are discovering some really interesting stories. Warnin
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Limitations?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 03/21/2006 03:50:48 PM
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Last May, my school board approved an allocation to purchase a wireless laptop cart/mobile computer lab for our school. This was exciting, because we were, at the time, working on a small package of professional development around incorporating technology into our instruction. Teachers who were excited to experiment with technology couldn't always make it into the computer lab. This mobile lab was supposed to make it possible for those teachers and the more experienced teachers in our school to have access to technology at the same time for a variety of purposes.
We don't have a school library, and the district has some handy online research resources that we can use, when we're on computers. Adding technology was exciting because we were going to be using it in some pretty meaningful ways. I had intended to begin blogging in several of my courses with students. I was excited that we would be able to write online together several times a week, if not every day. The additional access to computers was really a big piece of what I thought I needed to be successful, as I felt and still feel that the best way to create a community of writers is to find ways to publish with them regularly.
Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for those computers. The staff's excitement is long gone. Promises made by district technology personnel were broken repeatedly. My administrators went to bat for us again and again -- and their requests were met with deaf ears. Our technology staff is overworked and understaffed.
The long and short of it? The $30,000 worth of laptop computers that I ordered in December and that arrived in the district in January are sitting somewhere offsite gathering dust. A laptop cart with space for 24 computers sits in my classroom, and we stack books on it. The SMARTBoard that was purchased for my classroom sits in the hallway outside my classroom, still in the box, where it will most likely sit until summer. A box containing a ceiling mount projector is sitting next to the trashcan in my classroom. At least we can put trash in the trashcan. The box is just in the way.
This angers me somewhat. I considered naming names in this post, and just railing and fuming about all of my frustrations. but frankly, while that would feel good for all of five minutes, it wouldn't fix anything. We'd still be missing computers and there would really be no reason for anyone to hurry up and get them to us. And, I've found, it's always easier to blame and point and jump up and down than it is to get going on a project in spite of an extra obstacle or two (or twenty). Of course, it's taken me most of a year to get to that realization in this particular circumstance.
I'm done waiting.
On Monday, I'll begin my speech class. I haven't taught speech in a while. We'll be blogging as a major component of this course, despite the lack of access. It might fail miserably (and not just because of technology accessibility). Then again, it might not. Perhaps I was using the lack of tech as an excuse or a mask for my fears about taking blogging to the next step in my classes. My students regularly post their thoughts to Moodle. Now, they'll be going public.
If we can get into the computer lab, of course.
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AUTHOR: Juno888
EMAIL: juno888@yahoo.com
IP: 203.111.235.19
URL: http://www.1explore.com
DATE: 07/06/2007 01:37:10 AM
I appreciate everyone's support -- and it's good to hear that I'm not the only one frustrated by these setbacks -- but it's also downright awful to hear that I am not the only one in this situation.
Why do we settle/tolerate this?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kmom
EMAIL: kgafkjen@evertek.net
IP: 66.43.238.43
URL:
DATE: 04/07/2006 09:24:04 PM
I can understand your frustraition. I don't know how many tech staff your school has, but at the school my husband works for, he is "it". And he also teaches a full load of classes daily. So it isn't always the tech staff's fault. Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day. (or weekend, or holiday) Doing the parts that you can do, and learning how to help the tech person might get you much farther than threatening to do it all yourself and messing up the network for the whole school. The tech staff isn't necessarily the bad guy.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey Columbus
EMAIL: goblin.alchemist @gmail.com
IP: 66.153.120.118
URL:
DATE: 03/24/2006 06:09:56 PM
A few days late.
I'm not surprised to hear about this going on, honestly. School officials never seem to be the speediest about getting things done for their classrooms. I actually am seeing something similar with my college--the administration is dragging its feet to upgrade classrooms. The computer labs are simply wonderful, but most of the classrooms lack basic multimedia capabilities. Not a very good idea in a school of liberal arts that trains "working artists"--that is, people who work in music, advertising, film, and other media that require computers and projectors and the like.
I hope things will work out for you.
PS: I'm coming to visit for Michael's graduation. See you then!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL:
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 03/22/2006 12:09:09 PM
I admire your restraint from publishing names and lashing out Bud. It's for the best really, considering how publically known your blog is. You're right, it would be more productive to focus on how to fix the problem, so I suggest a slightly radical approach to show the tech department that the technology is needed and tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment might be better spent in students' hands rather than in boxes.
Let the tech staff know you're going to start setting stuff up yourself. I was in the same situation as you several times and nothing got the tech staff motivated to work on my requests(despite how swamped they claimed to be) like leaving an e-mail or voicemail in someone's inbox saying that I had started to setup the projector, scanner, or digital camera myself. You have more than enough skill to setup the projector and SMARTboard. You could even go so far as to find the location of the laptops and get one of them up and running and connected to the SMARTboard. Will the tech staff have to reconfigure all of the computers and install the district software? Yes, but they will have even more work to do if you start to set up everything yourself and don't follow their protocols, which should hopefully be enough motivation for them to get the equipment ready before you can make good on your message of getting things set up yourself.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel Previs
EMAIL: rfprev@wm.edu
IP: 128.239.207.143
URL: http://rfprev.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/22/2006 09:58:04 AM
I am still in the school of education at the College of William and Mary. I must say I was very disturbed by the setbacks you experienced, and check out what I had to say on my blog http://rfprev.blogspot.com/
As a beginning teacher, I must say I admire your persistence and willingness to continue integrating technology into the classroom despite numerous dead ends.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 03/22/2006 09:24:18 AM
I appreciate everyone's support -- and it's good to hear that I'm not the only one frustrated by these setbacks -- but it's also downright awful to hear that I am not the only one in this situation.
Why do we settle/tolerate this?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Laura
EMAIL: lblanken@gmail.com
IP: 165.106.200.197
URL: http://geekymom.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/22/2006 09:14:27 AM
If it makes you feel any better, the pace is similar in higher ed. I've been waiting just to be approved for putting laptops in our computer lab (and replace the desktops) for 3 years!! Every time I get told there's no money. This summer, it's absolutely supposed to happen, but we'll see. And don't even get me started on the glacial pace of other changes. Even worse.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/22/2006 09:09:28 AM
I can really relate to these problems that you have had getting your equipment. On the bright side, though - there is equipment out there that will someday be installed. That's more than a lot of people can say.
I don't think of you as being a fearful kind of guy, but I think we all have a tendency to let stumbling blocks keep us from doing things we are conflicted about - while not letting anything stand between us and something we really believe in and are ready to do.
Good luck with the speech class. I am looking forward to following the blogging!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 72.2.13.42
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 03/22/2006 04:39:20 AM
It is at times like these when I am always amazed at the speed that education moves. I believe there is no other "industry" that can justify the glacial pace of getting things done. I have been there many times waiting for orders to come in (or even get ordered after the forms have been turned in) for approval for something to happen, or other obstacles to be cleared. I need to end here with a good quote of some kind..... Something like, "damn the torpedoes," of "I have not yet begun to fight," but somedays, it takes it must take it all out of you to walk past that whiteboard sitting in your hallway. Good luck.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE:
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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DATE: 03/18/2006 02:17:21 PM
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I have refrained from saying anything about the Jay Bennish, Sean Allen incident on the blog for a couple of reasons, despite the fact that the whole thing blew up pretty much in my backyard. First, I try not to get political here. (I know -- pretty much all writing and opinion vetting on educational issues is politcal to some degree, but I hope you get what I mean.)
The other reason is that it's a sticky issue. Why would I want to get attached? But now that the heat's dissipating on the issue, and things are returning to normal, maybe I can discuss the case a little.
Sean Allen recorded his teacher without the teacher's permission or knowledge. He then sent that tape to the media, first in another state and then in Denver. mybestfriends
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: When Nancy Asks . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 03/16/2006 04:18:54 PM
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Nancy is curious to know why you blog with your students. She's speaking to/with some teachers soon, and would like to include your responses.
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/17/2006 09:22:35 AM
Thanks for the plug, Bud!
I am really happy that several people have already taken time to respond to my post. But, in all honesty, I expected it. This community is like none other!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Loooooong Distance IM
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Science
DATE: 03/15/2006 04:35:00 PM
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Talk about a digital divide. NASA is making plans to create an "Internet in space" so that space probes can more easily communicate with home base.
Fascinating.
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AUTHOR: coolcatteacher
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.141.128
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/15/2006 06:03:14 PM
This is a great concept and actually, I saw Vinton Cerf talk about it in a Masters of Technology video I just bought to show computer science. It is a great video and he says that a new protocol is needed for space because of the distances that will be traveled.
He says that TCP/IP is fine for milliseconds but that data leaving earth may take 5-20 minutes to reach even relatively near planets and spacecraft so he is designing a new protocol with that in mind. On the spacecraft and planets, he things TCP/IP is the way to go.
We had a great discussion about this. I always tell my students "If nobody says it's dumb, you're too late and missed it."
This is a vital occurence and thank you for blogging about it!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What Won't Be Tested
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 03/15/2006 10:30:22 AM
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We've begun our state assessments this week. This year's addition of a new test for 10th graders has resulted in an additional day of testing, bringing the total number of days to four. They're spread out over two weeks, thereby gutting the last two weeks of our third quarter. But I'm not writing to complain -- that's not productive. I'm also not writing to bash the tests -- that isn't productive, either. (Although this is too weird not to mention -- our district has banned newspapers from testing rooms this year because they make too much noise. The scary thing is, that almost makes sense to me -- should I get out of teaching?)
I am writing to just share a short list of good stuf that won't ever be tested. Here are a few things I've noticed recently that will never, ever appear on a standardized test.
One student has made it a goal this year to read one book per day of testing. He's excited to have the time off from his school work in order to have extra moments to read. (I think we call that excitement, which isn't on a standardized test.)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Barnraising Afterthoughts
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Edtechbarn
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Weblogs
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 03/12/2006 01:40:38 PM
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Just spend a crazy couple of hour writing/drafting/talking/developing the seed of some curricular tools and resources over at the EdTechTalk Barnraising. I think the core of curriculum is developing, but it will take a significant amount of time and resources over the new few weeks and months to flesh out and create a useful resource for teachers. We've all been creating our own tools and webpages to help us to share knowledge and help other teachers to use Web 2.0 as a classroom device. It'll be nice to create a central place to develop and share all of our work.
I hope that's what the EdTechTalk wiki will become. But it'll be up to all of us to make sure that what we've created becomes more than a collection of neglected wiki pages.
Here are a couple of things that I'm thinking about as my brain is in super-connective thinking mode.
- The wiki at EdTechTalk could become one stop shopping for anyone getting started and for those looking to further integrate Web 2.0 in the classroom.
- Lots of really smart people have lots of great ideas spread all over the Internet. How do we centralize that so as to be efficient and not recreating the wheel all of the time?
- How do we get stakeholders invested in using a central place for all of our resources? (I don't mean that everyone should only use one place to write or share, but I do think we could be lots more efficient and effective if we can begin to at least link back to one or two central resources, as well as link ourselves to a few key places.)
- What are the essential resources/pages/ideas/people that should be linked in to the EdTechTalk wiki? Who will make the effort to make sure these links get created?
- What am I overlooking/missing through the haze of my excitement?
- How does centralization like I'm attempting to describe hurt/harm/conflict with the idea of Small Pieces Loosely Joined?
- How can we use the category features of MediaWiki to create a resource that contains multiple ways of organizing and accessing information?
- Can we pay people to develop some of these ideas further? Where would the money come from? Would people want to get paid to develop wiki materials that might and probably will be changed over time?
Can you tell that my mind is racing right now?
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AUTHOR: Tadge
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.com
IP: 199.190.224.132
URL:
DATE: 03/22/2006 12:01:52 PM
Bud,
Once again great questions on this type of thing. I haven't revisited the EdTech wiki in a while, so I don't know about the progress or parts that they have been working on. I know that as I have been looking at the little project that we have here I am have been continuously wrestling with the focus of the project, the idea of community, the centralization of information, the reliability issue (there is a great article on this in Linux Journal this month), and a million other things that parallel what you are talking about above.
I know that I started posting questions and thoughts on the community page, and if I can manage to build a community hope that this can be solved collectively, which if projects like these are to succeed that is what needs to happen. If there is a central place on the EdTechTalk wiki to hash out these things that is where these questions should start to be looked at. Beyond that I don't know how to offer anymore thoughts on this. Going to have to sign up as a member and get to work over in the EdTechTalk wiki:)
Have a good one,
Tadge
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 69.106.254.168
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 03/14/2006 09:52:38 PM
So interesting to see you talking about web 2.0 as my husband just gave two talks on that very topic.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben Bleckley
EMAIL: benbleckley@gmail.com
IP: 67.190.26.178
URL: http://pedagogypractice.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/13/2006 07:10:50 AM
Bud,
I think your question about linking all that information on the internet has a start with the Edublogs grou.ps site, though there isn't much way to organize that information. Two jumbled, brainstormy, thoughts:
-What if grou.ps or a site like it allowed people to create topics to categorize their posts? Would there just be too many topics since everyone will have a different view of what goes in what category?
-What about something like an online educator journal with an editor? How many people would submit, and would there be too much stuff for one person or even a group of people to organize?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Getting Stuff Done
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 03/12/2006 11:09:45 AM
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I'm over at EdTechTalk right now participating in their New Media Barnraising. If you're reading this on Sunday around mid-day (11-1pm Mountain Time), feel free to join the conversation. Events like this one might be the future of online collaboration -- I'm tickled to death to be able to participate.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Yarn Blogging
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 03/11/2006 01:11:12 PM
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It was a good day yesterday for our presentation on blogging. We were the last session at the end of a long day, 
but a dozen or so people (solid turn out for the end of the day) showed up. We hit critical mass with participants and had a great conversation. Others came to get handouts and to ask blogging specific questions. The yarn and sticky notes worked well. Next time, though, I think we'll ask folks to do their writing and commenting and connecting at the beginning of the presentation, instead of the end.
I'm looking forward to what the teachers who were there do with the information. One pair spent most of the session huddled excitedly as they made a plan for some of their future blog work. I promised pictures, and here they are. You can look at more of the photos over on Flickr.
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AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL:
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 03/16/2006 10:10:44 AM
That's a really neat idea for a conceptual understanding of how blogging works Bud. Smart idea, and great implementation. Making all of the connections and writing comments does make a lots of sense towards the beginning of the presentation too.
More importantly, I like your idea that presentations don't have to be lectures, and can include fun activities, not unlike those that you would do in the classroom with students. I think I'll take a page from Bud's Presentation book next time I have to talk and develop a nice hands-on activity to help get everyone into the session.
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TITLE: Bud the Teacher: Yarn Blogging
URL: http://blogwalker.edublogs.org/2006/03/28/bud-the-teacher-yarn-blogging/
IP: 72.34.43.151
BLOG NAME: BlogWalker
DATE: 03/28/2006 05:35:15 PM
Bud the Teacher has posted a great idea for blogging workshop opening activity. He posted the activity as an untested idea, so Ill be checking back on his site to see if the activity actually proved an effective way to make visible the interacti...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Cute and Cuddly Blogging
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 03/10/2006 12:17:56 PM
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Blogging AND bears. What's not to like? This is a good way to humanize technology, something that needs to happen more.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Small Sticky Notes, Loosely Yarned
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Professional Development
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Writing
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 03/09/2006 11:54:14 PM
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BODY:
My CSUWP colleague Megan Freeman and I are at the Colorado Language Arts Society Regional Spring Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado this weekend. (Man -- lots of capital letters in that sentence!)
We'll be presenting a session tomorrow on blogging and podcasting. You might remember that I wrote about planning a presentation on blogging in a location where there will be few computers and no Internet access. We'll be showing off some solid educational blogs, but I really hate presentations that are lecture-y. I like to do stuff.
So, we'll be having our participants creating their own blogs using masking tape, paper, sticky notes and yarn. Here's the plan:
When folks arrive, they'll be asked to do some freewriting about a current concern or problem for them in their classrooms. We'll give them some scratch paper. Then, we'll forget entirely about the writing and go through a brief introduction of blogs, podcasts, and RSS. Very, very brief. In ten minutes, I've got to define those three things and share several examples. Megan will spend some time talking about Internet safety and the work she's been doing with her poetry club. (Go and read some of their poems. Really.)
It'll be tricky.
Then, we'll be "publishing" everyone's writing from earlier using the walls and the masking tape. Participants will have the chance to check out the session "aggregator" by walking around the room and responding to posts by commenting on them (via the sticky notes).
The yarn is the part I'm most worried about. Ideally, if our hunch is right, we'll begin to see patterns in the texts that show up. Connections, if you will. Some posts will be connected by topic. Others will be connected by the commenters who make connections. The yarn will go up on posts that have some sort of connection to each other. I'm hoping that folks will actually begin to see, in a tangible way, the web of connections formed by what they write and think and comment. We'll debrief that at the end of our session. (And I'll have a camera on hand to document the whole thing. We'll record the session, too. Might be podcast worthy. Might not be.)
What do you think? You've still got about fifteen hours to talk me out of it. If the whole thing crashes and burns, we can at least listen to some good podcasts.
If only I had thirty spare computers and a reliable hotel Internet connection. I bet Will's got Wi-Fi. Oh well, we'll settle (tomorrow) for our sticky notes and yarn.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Illya Arnet
EMAIL: i.arnet@freesurf.ch
IP: 84.72.148.154
URL: http://mi-onlinestudy.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/17/2007 02:11:44 AM
I saw the link to this idea on http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com/category/edu-blogging/
Since I'll be in EXACTLY the same situation and have spent ages laoboring over how to allow them to actually blog without a computer, I'll steal your idea -
THanks a million!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rebecca
EMAIL: rpayne7@utk.edu
IP: 71.203.198.49
URL:
DATE: 09/07/2006 01:06:49 PM
This is a wonderful, non-threatening way to introduce the concept of blogging. Can I steal your idea for teachers in my district?!?
Thanks for the great blog - I enjoy reading it!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.24.215
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/10/2006 10:23:56 PM
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. I wish I were there. ;-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL:
IP: 209.177.139.39
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/clockwurkt/
DATE: 03/10/2006 12:29:08 PM
Thanks for all the kind comments. Megan deserves lots of credit for the idea. Ewan, I really like the idea of tagging posts to show the power of tags. Won't do it today, but how about slapping a little colored sticky note on those posts that meet the criteria for a particular code/tag/color?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/10/2006 11:40:22 AM
I agree with Ewan -- I am going to steal the idea. I don't think I could do it on the 18th because I don't have much time, but I will definitely give it a try.
And, like Ewan, I will be happy to give you credit for the brilliant idea!
Thanks, Bud!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ewan McIntosh
EMAIL: ewan.mcintosh@blueyonder.co.uk
IP: 80.192.21.137
URL: http://edu.blogs.com
DATE: 03/10/2006 08:17:17 AM
If you don't do it at this conference I'll do it at another ;-) I think it's a great idea. You could also encourage people to mark the top of the paper with one of three colours: blue if their post is to do with ICT, red if the post is to do with behaviour and yellow if the post is something else. People will go to posts that reflect what they are currently interested in. That might help people see the point of tagging. In fact, I'm DEFINITELY going to rip off your idea at the next conference I do. Your blog will be credited, of course. Nice one.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: astephens
EMAIL: ajs1974@yahoo.com
IP: 65.117.145.6
URL: http://www.musingsfromtheacademy.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/10/2006 08:13:10 AM
Wow! It is going to be tough to get the idea of blogging across without computers and Internet access, but it sounds like you have a pretty creative plan that demostrates the concept well. Definitely post the results for us to see.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron
EMAIL: aaron_is_now@yahoo.com
IP: 201.137.2.178
URL: http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com
DATE: 03/10/2006 07:38:29 AM
Bud,
Great idea man! I really liked the "hands-on" in "non-tech" approach to explaining blogging. I think your plan will really help people understand and SEE what blogging is all about.
I'm looking forward to those pictures!
Aaron
Mexico City
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.195.230
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 03/10/2006 07:13:55 AM
Definitely give it a shot.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 216.27.182.251
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 03/10/2006 06:48:34 AM
Wow. I like that idea for a classroom activity to introduce blogging. Even though many of my students have mywretchedspaces, those that don't or don't have computer access don't understand about posting and blogging.
Plus, what a cool way to actualize why we want them to blog.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Writely Goes Google
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 03/09/2006 11:36:05 PM
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Writely, the word processing app with lots of potential, has gone Google. Not sure what this means yet, but, then again, neither are they. Should we be worried? Excited? Both?
Or is it time to get off the Google Grid?
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AUTHOR: Art Gelwicks
EMAIL: art@webedtech.com
IP: 204.74.20.14
URL: http://www.webedtech.com
DATE: 03/10/2006 01:14:44 PM
I like the fact that Writely will now have a larger pool of funding to draw on to continue their innovative work. The more diverse sets of applications similar to this that are available, the better things get. After all...Microsoft could have bought them too, you know.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/10/2006 11:44:01 AM
Yeah, I noticed that the other day when I logged on to Writely. I am a little uneasy about it because I just generally don't like big outfits controlling too many aspects of my life. I really love Writely, though, and use it regularly, so I am reluctant to give up on it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 216.212.245.50
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/10/2006 05:35:55 AM
I adore writely and I love the new Google sign in page. Google, however, is beginning to make me nervous as they have expressed a desire to aggregate everyone's data. Ewan wrote some about the Google thing yesterday and he elicited a comment from me. I like you, Bud, have some concerns about Google.
Information is the commodity of the future. I love Google and believe their search algorithms to be the best. However, to have a monopoly opens up potential for all sorts of abuses and in particular, censorship.
I have to wonder if some of this isn't being driven by Google's desire to reach 20% of the earth, living in China. With dynamic content beyond comprehension on the Internet, how can a company filter in real time without creating a server farm in the state of perpetual choke. Here comes the idea -- a server farm that mirrors the Internet. (A giant "proxy server" for those of us technologic types.) The information is filtered prior to going into the "proxy." The data can then be filtered, etc. prior to being stored.
I would add that writely would make a nice addition to their compendium of information.
It makes a lot of sense for Google trying to speed up their services.
The downside is the potential for abuse. Instead of parent filters, we are going to have government filters with "rose colored glasses" of the government kind imposed on their citizens. This is only the beginning.
If one can control information, one can ATTEMPT to control thought.
Finally, I sure hope Google gets back to innovating. The folks at Writely have done more improvements to their service in the past month than Google has done to blogspot in the past three months!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: It Takes Time . . .Too Much Time
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 03/07/2006 04:35:08 PM
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I wish I had more time to spend in the blog of Clarence Fisher. I've got a backlog of posts of his that I keep meaning to respond to -- and will one day, I'm sure. But a post he made over the weekend really resonated with me. He writes:
One morning last week, one of the girls in my class came to me and said
that she had spent her entire time looking through the blogs of others
and was frustrated by the lack of updates. She wondered if some of
these classes were using their blogs anymore or if they had simply quit
writing.
I know James has recently celebrated over 5 000 learner blogs,
but I wonder as this school year fades on how blogs are fairing as a
classroom tool. As the school year first began, blogs in classrooms
seemed to explode onto the national scene. Articles popped up here and
there and many teachers began to wonder about using blogs to help kids
learn. A lot of interest was generated and many blogs were constructed.
But now, like with any other new tool, I wonder if we're going through
a period of consolidation? People have heard about blogs, they set up
accounts for their kids and began to write. But then their interest
faded, they couldn't see progress the they expected, it required too
large of a change in classroom routine, etc., etc. For whatever reason,
a lot of the blogs that my kids are finding seem to be inactive.
Certainly anecdotal evidence, and I'm sure that people like David Warlick who runs Blogmeister,
or James Farmer who runs many versions of blog sites would have a lot
more stats on this, but it is interesting what these kids have found.
Will responded:
It does seem like there is a lull, doesn't it? And I wonder if it's not
that, as you allude to Clarence, teachers don't fully recognize the
investment here. This is not just about using a tool, it's about
building a community. It takes nurturing, tending, etc. The payoff, I
think it's more and more evident, can be huge. But I wonder how many
teachers have the Ganley, Glogowski, Fisher, Hunt, Kuropatwa gene that
allows them to see and understand that potential... It is a great
question.
I began writing a comment and quickly realized that it was going to be a big one. Here goes: I think that most blogs die an early
death, as you're saying. Well intentioned teachers and students
create their first, and sometimes second, posts with the idea that
blogging will be something that they can add on to the rest of their
busy lives, -- but that's not really how it works. It takes time -- time that must be given from some other sacred cow at school. Time to nurture, as Will says. above. That's time we might not be able to spare. Then again -- it might be time that we're wasting doing other stuff.
I met last night with a group of
teachers that are still curious about blogging and its place in their
teaching and learning. They've watched as I've had success with my blog and my students' work, and
they've heard feedback from the community about their contributions
to the blogosphere -- specifically, the podcasts that we did together
last summer at the CSUWP -- and they're
realizing the power of publishing and networking and community and
writing and thinking and learning that has very little to do with
instructional mandates and everything to do with personal investment
in getting better. (Isn't that pretty much what school is: getting better?)
Once that is realized, and I think
it will be (but slowly, oh so slowly!), more and more teachers and students will return to write
a second, third and/or fourth post. Eventually, it becomes a habit, and a good one at that. The writing part of blogging alone will improve student abilities if that writing is monitored and discussed. Add in the reflective power of blogs to help students grasp what they're learning and to document it for later and, well, I think we might be on to something. We'll be really cooking if we can showcase the good stuff before all of the tools get locked away.
But it sure does take a long time,
doesn't it? Of course, most good things do. I just hope there's enough.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brian Crosby
EMAIL: brian@learningismessy.com
IP: 64.169.3.135
URL: http://www.learningismessy.com/blog
DATE: 03/11/2006 03:51:30 PM
Bud the Teacher continued a conversation a few days ago about how it is taking “too much time” for tools like blogs to be embraced and utilized by educators...
http://learningismessy.com/blog/?p=20
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 64.39.134.65
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/09/2006 09:36:01 AM
I think it is a matter of replacing an old way with a new way. Instead of having them turn in papers, I have my students blog. The difficulty with blogs is the pressure to create a "perfect" product. The test-score centric, whine about education media tend to want to cast stones at educators at any chance they get. They do not realize that we are educating children, not college graduates as they are.
Children will make mistakes and errors and sometimes teachers won't catch it. I find myself proofing and correcting quite a bit. Also, no one sees the grade the student makes, but should the F not be allowed to post?
Blogging tools have mediocre spell checkers and nonexistent grammar checkers.
For now, no pain no gain. It takes time to work with it. We have to deal with a lot of people who do not understand nor advocate our methods.
I, for one, believe the sacrifice is more than worth it and am glad I brought my classrooms into the wiki/ blogging world!
Thank you for another great post, Bud!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rob Reynolds
EMAIL:
IP: 209.31.132.82
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/no1nozeus/
DATE: 03/08/2006 06:24:00 AM
Bud,
This is a great post. As I read this, I thought about my Advanced Composition classes taught in the late 90's before I had any blogging tools. In those classes we used Web pages created using Netscape Composer. That tool a lot of time and it was something that most of my students dropped as soon as they left the course.
I also thought about the amount of time I actually spend on my own blogging at XplanaZine and in my personal teaching. It does take time. But, as others have pointed out -- whether for teacher or student -- if it becomes a habit or part of our pedagogical experience, it isn't "new" or "unaccounted for" time, but rather a shiting of time we already had.
Of ocurse, I do love the idea that, regardless of the potential efficiencies involved, some things are worth doing because they're worth doing. Period. I love the idea of "Personal investment in getting better."
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Nelson
EMAIL: aaron_is_now@yahoo.com
IP: 148.233.133.4
URL: http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com
DATE: 03/07/2006 09:29:01 PM
Hey Bud,
I think you´re right on.
"Well intentioned teachers and students create their first, and sometimes second, posts with the idea that blogging will be something that they can add on to the rest of their busy lives, -- but that's not really how it works. It takes time -- time that must be given from some other sacred cow at school. Time to nurture, as Will says. above. That's time we might not be able to spare. Then again -- it might be time that we're wasting doing other stuff."
Isn't that the truth? If you come at blogging or podcasting as an "add on" to the rest of your already busy life, it somehow just doesn't survive.
I wish I could remember where I read this, but I think blogging is very similar to professional development. (Be you a student or a teacher.) Professional development, in order to succeed, must not be something seen as "extra." It must undergo a headshift to "part of what I do."
"Personal investment in getting better." Wow. That's just really well put. And isn't it what we should be trying to encourage in class? That personal investment? I mean if we don't, what will happen when class is over? What will happen when students graduate? If there is no personal investment, they will have a very...incorrect perspective about learning: that it's done to me, not by me.
Great post.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: TR
EMAIL: the_science_goddess@yahoo.com
IP: 69.29.244.90
URL: http://whatitslikeontheinside.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/07/2006 07:56:01 PM
I'd love my class blog to be updated more...but the fact is, the techs still will not allow it through the school's filters. We are only allowed to see it (and are supposed to be grateful for this exception), not post nor comment. I wonder how many other teachers and classes have blogs that have fallen victim to this---and thus have a lack of updates?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 207.5.124.207
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/07/2006 07:11:22 PM
I'm certainly guilty of more consistent commenting than blogging. Sure, I'm cooking up a post, but it will take a while before it's done.
I can no longer blog about my classroom - I've retired, so I'm not at all sure what my focus should be anymore.
I think what you say about nurturing growth and the time committment is valid. Certainly that's one of the reasons I keep at it: I sense a growth worth continuing.
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TITLE: Daily Update -- March 9, 2006
URL: http://www.xplanazine.com/archives/2006/03/daily_update_ma_5.php
IP: 65.61.155.233
BLOG NAME: XplanaZine
DATE: 03/09/2006 05:44:39 AM
Here's our take on news that matters for Thursday, March 9. Today's theme is come together now, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.
Gaming -- ...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Alternative Education -- An Evening with NCTE@CSU
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Preservice Teachers
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 03/06/2006 03:24:54 PM
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Last Wednesday, a student and I were invited to speak at the monthly meeting of CSU's student affiliate group of NCTE. We had a conversation for about an hour about alternative education and our experiences as teacher and student. Lots of good questions and several laughs were shared.
I didn't intend to record the presentation, but some of their group wasn't present, and was interested in a podcast version of the conversation. I just happened to have my equipment.
Enjoy. Oh, and the invitation to tour our school is open to y'all, too. Just let me know if you're interested.
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AUTHOR: Paul O'Connor
EMAIL: poconnor@colostate.edu
IP: 64.233.98.99
URL:
DATE: 03/09/2006 11:56:07 PM
Hi Bud-
Thanks so much for coming by our meeting a few weeks ago. I could have listened to you & your student talk late into the night. You are a very inpsiring teacher. I mean it!
Keep up the fantastic work sir.
Paul O'Connor
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Langhorst
EMAIL: speakingofhistory@gmail.com
IP: 204.185.75.130
URL: http://www.theyearofthehangman.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/09/2006 01:49:10 PM
Hello. Our class is currently working on a book blog project with other students from around the country. We are reading "The Year of the Hangman" which is about whay might have happened if the British won the Revolutionary War. Our blog for this project can be found at: www.theyearofthehangman.blogspot.com Go ahead and check it out or join us!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Great Find
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Preservice Teachers
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 03/06/2006 03:20:12 PM
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Via a response to a post I made here last week, I just discovered a collection of preservice teacher blogs. Some pretty interesting reading, and the preservice teachers who become bloggers will have a big heads up when it comes to professional development once they're in their own classrooms.
On a technical note -- this Suprglu page is a great example of how you can aggregate several voices into one location for the purpose of having both a shared and an individual blog space for a course. After the course is over, the individual blogs can still exist, independent of a course, until the next need for aggregation comes along. Tools like Suprglu are going to be the essentials when students enter a new course with their own personal learning space.
For example, when a student creates a school blog for her language arts class, the teacher can aggregate all of those blogs into a Suprglu page. Then, when that student is done with language arts, and is now blogging in math class, she can keep her same blog, with all of her old posts, and the math teacher can aggregate the class blogs together in a similar fashion, so that students need only add one more feed into their aggregators.
Now, does anyone know how to aggregate posts by category only, so that the student's work in language arts can be pulled into one class page, and the student's work in math can end up on the math page?
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AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.106.99
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/08/2006 12:11:56 AM
I think D'Arcy is working on something like that.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Our First Podcast
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 03/03/2006 08:46:27 AM
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Our first podcast is up over at OldeSchoolNews. Melissa, our first student podcaster, did a great job of reading her profile of our school's counselor. She was very nervous, but ultimately very proud of what she accomplished.
More to come, I hope, as students begin to get their current round of writing finished. The comment to the story is just why we're publishing student work.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Handy Starting Place
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 02/27/2006 02:56:29 PM
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Need to talk to a parent about what their child is up to online? Wired's got a great starting point in this cheat sheet to Myspace. It's a sidebar to what looks like, at first glance, a well-reasoned look at all of the hubbub surrounding the site.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Want to Publish?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Writing
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 02/25/2006 07:52:38 AM
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Had a great first day with other NWP teachers from other parts of the country. We got right to work, though, in true Writing Project fashion -- and I expect I'll be quite tired by the end of the weekend.
Regular readers of this blog probably know that one of the major ideas behind the NWP is that the best teachers of writing are those that are writers themselves. This teacher writing takes a number of forms, this blog being my primary writing environment. Others write poetry, professional articles, keep journals, write fiction, etc. But one end goal of writing is getting that work read, or published. (I've been having some interesting conversations lately about whether or not publishing via blogs is really publishing. What do you think?)
Megan, one of the CSUWP's group of pretty amazing teacher consultants, has put together a really handy resource to help folks who are looking for places to publish. Here's a link to her three-page spreadsheet of literary journals that accept either poetry, or fiction, or both.
What other handy "Where do I get published?" resources do you know about?
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AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.60.208
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/26/2006 07:05:57 AM
I haven't decided if blogging constitutes publishing or not, at least for me.
Certainly for some of the large, famous blogs and their bloggers, being read by thousands of people a day parallels traditional publication in terms of audience.
But for those of us who play with words or explore ideas in relatively smaller corners of the internet, blogging more closely resembles the "sharing" phase of the writing process. We comment on strengths of phrasing or content, we ask questions for clarification, we engage in the behaviors we want our students to use mid-process.
In the sense that we relinquish control of who reads our words as soon as we hit the "publish post" button, there's at least an element of publication. But the same could be said of writing words on the stall in the bathroom at the gas station.
So I'm not sure.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brett Hinton
EMAIL: hintbw@hintonweb.com
IP: 204.229.240.120
URL: http://blog.hintonweb.com
DATE: 02/25/2006 05:59:22 PM
I didn't see it on Megan's list and, while it isn't a traditional journal or publisher, I thought Lulu.com needed a mention to an article like this. The power or effect of an on-demand publisher is yet to be seen, but the idea, at the very least, is a powerful one. I've often wondered (since I heard about lulu.com about a year ago) what effect using lulu.com and a student writing assignment might have on quality of student work. They also advertise the capability to sell through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, as well as their own website. An interesting possibility anyway.
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TITLE: More on Being an Academic
URL: http://mkbabd.blogspot.com/2006/03/more-on-being-academic.html
IP: 68.117.210.53
BLOG NAME: Breaking into the Academy
DATE: 03/23/2006 03:02:03 PM
Once again, here are some more entries from around the blogsphere about entering the world of higher education and becoming a member of the academy.
Teaching
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Away from Home
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 02/23/2006 11:11:01 PM
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I'm writing tonight from the Warwick Hotel in Denver, Colorado, where I am preparing to begin a three day National Writing Project event tomorrow. We'll be looking at information from other NWP sites and coding them to help get a fix on what's going on around the country. (At least, that's how I understand the process right now -- I'll understand it better tomorrow.) In the evenings in between work sessions, I'll be planning a conference presentation on blogging and checking in with a teacher that I am working with on a pen pal project with our students.
Busy weekend, but it's that good, "good things are happening in our classrooms, let's share them" type of busy. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope I can record some audio and pass along our conversations.
One note -- we'll probably be giving that conference presentation on blogging in a room without Internet access or computers. We're thinking that we might use sticky notes as a metaphor for blogging.
How many of you are conferencing in areas without reliable Internet access?
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 71.38.12.78
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 03/05/2006 07:44:32 AM
The Warwick has Wi-Fi. The conference that I spent some time planning for does not. Don't blame the Warwick -- they're A-OK.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 03/05/2006 12:48:05 AM
I like the Warwick - I've been to several events there, nice rooms, decent prices, good location, etc - but...
Why on earth did you agree to such a thing?!?
Rip the conference organizers a new one. This sort of thing is not acceptable.
I'd show up and stand silently in front of the room for the entire time.
Get with the 21st century or get out.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 69.15.135.100
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 02/25/2006 07:33:50 AM
Thanks for the ideas, guys. I neglected to mention that I will be caching blogs and other stuff and using a projector to display the stuff that we want to show folks.
But SEEING isn't DOING. My co-presenter and I want the audience to experience blogging as writers. That's why we're thinking about sticky notes -- they'll "publish" to the walls, and then they can visit each other's sites and add their comments. Might even involve some yarn to create visual representations of networking and connections.
Sounds hokey, I know -- but I think it will work. It kind of has to. Successful blogvangelism demands no less.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL:
IP: 24.7.252.173
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 02/25/2006 05:29:33 AM
Unfortunately, all of the conferences I've been to have been in newer chain hotels or large convention center hotels, so wi-fi has always been present. However, I have been in a situation before in which I had to pay 12 dollars a day for Net access in my room, which in some ways might have been worse than going without connectivity.
If you haven't given your presentation on blogging yet, I'd second the sticky note idea. Although if you're presenting toa bunch of veteran teachers you might want to use the old "red pen" analogy on the student's paper. Blogging is just the same as journaling or free writing, and the comments are like the teacher's comments done in red pen at the end of the paper. Except the teacher in this case happend to be anyone on the Internet, and you can control how many of them leave comments on the paper. Not sure if that helps, but it might work well with your sticky note idea.
Hope all goes well for you Bud.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.107.48
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/24/2006 10:43:21 PM
Wow! You must really like a challenge. ;-) I imagine that's like teaching a blind person what "red" means.
Here's an idea: Print up pages of blogs you want to display, including "what happens after you click the comment link," or "the blogroll link," or any other link. Make overhead transparencies and flip through them as you give your presentation. What do you think?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Prompting
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 02/20/2006 01:18:20 PM
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Nancy's using this list as a writing prompt. Good idea.
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AUTHOR: Todd
EMAIL: tsguitar@hotmail.com
IP: 68.164.93.118
URL: http://www.toddseal.com/rodin
DATE: 03/05/2006 10:36:07 AM
I just talked with my kids about opening lines of novels on Thursday! I have this list I created a few years ago of really cool opening lines from books like Requiem For A Dream (Harry locked his mother in the closet) and Possessing the Secret of Joy (I did not realize for along time that I was dead). Those were their two favorites of the five I scrawled on the board.
That site is a good one to have handy. We're talking about interesting writing and I'll give them that site on Monday so we can talk about it.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Odds 'n' Ends
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 02/20/2006 01:12:50 PM
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Lots to pass along the grapevine. Here, in no particular order, are all of the items that I can remember that I wanted to share, and share quickly:
- Chris is looking for the teachers that will help him to build a new school. If you're in the Philadelphia area, or you might like to be, you should consider a career shift.
- Jeff and Dave are going to be webcasting some wiki training in conjunction with their EducationBridges wiki textbook project. If you'd like to learn how to wiki, might be good to stay tuned in to these guys.
- Dave, by the way, is also at work on what the new media curriculum for teaching teachers might look like. He wants your help, and he's already got some pretty heavy hitters interested in the project. Check out his proposal and the curriculum wiki. (I'd have already signed up, but I'm hearing the voice, you know the one, telling me, "Your plate is full. Your plate is full." If I can silence that voice for long enough, I'll be posting some ideas to the wiki.)
- Everyone has some interesting stories to tell. Dean's post (thanks to an assist by Clarence) gives some examples of ways to tell them that might get students to start thinking about their own lives and stories in different ways. Then the storytelling can begin.
- Adam at WikiSpaces is helping teachers to host wikis via their service. For free. Without ads. If you're getting your feet wet, and need a place to experiment, give them a try.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Building Community One Membership at a Time
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 02/20/2006 12:49:43 PM
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Steve's hard work on the community portal for the Discovery Educator Network is beginning to show fruit. Looks interesting. Question: can us non-DEN types participate in the conversation? Or should we all go ahead and apply for membership?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Good Line for Monday
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 02/20/2006 12:37:54 PM
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Doug, as usual, is exactly right:
I think that as a profession, and as a nation, we are being driven in
(at least) two directions simultaneously. It’s a conflict between
conformity and creativity; between accommodation and rigor; between
convergence and divergence; between authority and autonomy; between
performance and understanding; between doubt and trust. It’s making me
crazy, but I can’t quit because I sense that I’m sitting on top of a
huge pile of junk that’s almost ready to implode. I want to be here
when it happens.
Me, too. The question for me lately, though, is where exactly should I be standing when the fireworks start?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Universe at Our FIngertips
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/15/2006 08:10:57 PM
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It turns out that Google Earth-Fever is contagious.
After the success of yesterday's explorations, my students in my science fiction class were suddenly very curious to know more about the software. Lots of great questions -- but the most common was simply, "Can you show me my house?"
And I could, so I did. Took up a little all of our time, but two by two students came up to my desk and took a look at whatever they wanted to see in the world. Some went foreign -- most wanted a close up look at their homes. (I learned a great deal about where my students live -- and the condition of their homes. Priceless information that will never appear on a Scantron or in a student file. Yeah -- I know their addresses are all in there -- but I've now seen all of their homes. Pretty weird.)
While I was taking students on a tour of our world, the other students were supposed to be reading a story that I assigned. But they weren't. Some were discussing the events of the day, others talking about places they had traveled. One of those days where conversation was good and important and had nothing to do with the content of my course.
It was wonderful. I hope every teacher has had a day or two like today.
The best part of the day was when one student wanted to know if they had a Google Space. He's interested in astronomy, and is quite bright, although perhaps a little unfocused (he'd agree with that term). I was so glad that I had a copy of Stellarium on my laptop so that I could show him that program.
If you don't know Stellarium, it's an Open Source astronomy program -- pretty much your own personal planetarium. I quickly loaded it up and blew his mind. We looked at the stars and the planets. We made time move forward weeks, years, and centuries at a time, and looked as the stars whizzed by. We traveled to the other side of the world and saw the sky that we can't see because the planet is in the way. We saw the night sky as it will look in the year 9703.
I'm pretty sure he'll be downloading that program, and that he'll look up at night with a bit of authority. Maybe he'll look down on the Earth someday, and I can see the reflection of his space ship as it heads off to places unknown. I sure hope so. Today was one hell of a day. Dreams to reach and places to explore.
Measure that on a test.
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AUTHOR: Emily
EMAIL: emgray@wm.edu
IP: 70.174.93.58
URL: http://emilymm2006.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/27/2006 10:00:02 AM
Hi! I really enjoyed your post about Google Earth, mainly because of your side comment about letting students discuss what they wanted and how great of a day it was. I wrote in my blog, (http://emilymm2006.blogspot.com/) about how much to let students interact with each other and I quoted you. Please come and check it out!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: graycie
EMAIL: calderson@roanoke.k12.va.us
IP: 208.27.234.20
URL: http://graycie5198.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/20/2006 03:07:27 PM
My colleague downloaded Google Earth, but can only get VERY fuzzy images -- of the city and the general shapes of surrounding mountains. It is impossible to see anything much smaller than a mountain or a largish river. Do you know anything about what's up with this?
Thanks for any help you can give.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karen
EMAIL:
IP: 66.32.180.244
URL:
DATE: 02/19/2006 07:52:13 AM
Thanks for the Stellarium tip. I'm new to Google Earth myself (same Mac quandry as another poster). I had a similar exploratory lesson with struggling third and fifth graders last week. Love seeing their houses...but it really captured the imagination of a few. We explored a few other areas - Mt. St. Helen's and (closer to home) Stone Mountain. More valuable, though was that their imaginations were ignited. They wanted to know if they'd be able to see the people on top of Stone Mtn. I have at least one child who is going to flip for Stellarium. Thanks again.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Will Richardson
EMAIL: weblogged@gmail.com
IP: 205.247.5.16
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 02/17/2006 10:39:44 AM
Hey Bud, Great post. The excitement leaps off the page...I mean, screen. I'm downloading Stellarium and can't wait to show it to my kids. Better yet, I can't wait to show it to their TEACHERS.
Thanks.
Will
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 02/16/2006 07:36:15 AM
Congrats on getting Google Earth up and running Bud, You're right in that it seems just novel at first, but once you get going it turns into an indespensible tool, if not for being able to see real images of places, but to cut back on the cost of replacing aging wall maps and desk maps.
You have stumbled across the greatest pitfall though, the "I want to see my house!" request. I installed Google Earth on all of student laptops this summer, and I made sure to the students plenty of time to find their hose and anything else they wanted to before we started using the tool (to help get the playfulness out of it). However, after half a year of using it, they still insist on sneaking some time to check out their houses.
Right now we're using a nice map overlay provided by the Google Earth page to explore the Olympic venues and the Northern Italian Alps.
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/google-earth/google-earth-to-map-olympic-venues-153925.php
Give it a click and enjoy :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 142.161.98.195
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/15/2006 09:15:12 PM
Just downloaded Stellarium.
My g-d! It's full of stars!
My kids have been asking me, each night before they go to sleep, to tell them a little something about our solar system. This is going to blow their little 5 and 9 year old heads off!
I can't thank you enough for the tip. Now I just have to upgrade my mac to system 10.4 and download Google earth .... ;-)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Gmail's Chat Feature Didn't Work So Much for Me
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/14/2006 11:18:57 PM
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Gmail is my all-time favorite e-mail program. I love it. I was surprised when I saw that they were adding chat directly into the application -- and I still have concerns that chat in my e-mail might be problematic.
But it really became a problem today when my school district's filtering company blocked access to Gmail because it is now a "chat" application, and those are blocked. That crippled me. My school district's mail application is nowhere near as useful, as versatile, or downright as user friendly as Gmail. I have three different accounts that I use at school -- one for listservs, one for collecting student work, and then my general account.
Fortunately, as soon as I requested that the site be unblocked, my request was granted. But I still was crippled for a good chunk of the day. Should I be upset about that -- or happy that I was able to get the site unblocked?
And why are schools so filter-happy? We know they don't solve anything.
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AUTHOR: Caro
EMAIL: caro488@yahoo.com
IP: 12.14.244.89
URL:
DATE: 02/21/2006 03:53:30 PM
My school blocks any website that has a blog, is a blog, or has the word blog. It blocks any site that hints of chat.Not just for students.
FOR TEACHERS.
Of course you can submit a request. One of my requests was to access a site from an educational institution (.edu) with a dictionary of slang. My &^&*((*%^* CURRICULUM includes "evaluate slang expressions."
I was NOT given permission to access the site.
The TechTsar is retiring. Does this mean we will have less censorship? Don't hold your breath. But I'm not bitter....
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I Get It . . .Now
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/14/2006 10:37:35 PM
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Okay, I know that Google Earth has been out for a while, and I got my geography fix even before that with NASA's Worldwind, but I really figured that the tool was a novelty at best.
Boy, how stupid I can be sometimes.
I had the opportunity this afternoon to play with Google Earth with a few of my students today, and I am now convinced that it is a necessary utility on any school computer. In fifteen minutes or so (okay -- maybe an hour -- we did lose some time this afternoon), we scanned Mount St. Helens, took a peek at the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, looked in on one student's home in Denmark, and checked out the beaches where the Allied troops landed during the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Oh -- we also took a peek at the bird's eye view of our school. A few minutes after my students left, a couple of staff members came in and we started all over again.
Pretty much everyone said, "Wow." A lot.
One student turned to me at the end of his study hall and asked if it was okay that we were doing what we were doing. "I guess this is learning," he said.
Yeah it is. (This was the same bright young man who asked to take a look at Normandy, as he's reading some Stephen Ambrose right now.
What a great tool. Don't you hate it when you miss the significance of something? And aren't you glad when you discover it, even if it's late? What did you miss the first time around?
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AUTHOR: Stephen Lazar
EMAIL: outsidethecave@gmail.com
IP: 66.234.37.29
URL: http://www.stephenlazar.com
DATE: 02/15/2006 06:07:19 PM
I'm a Mac guy, so I just got to experience Google Earth for the first time a couple months ago, and I was blown away at the possibilities as a Social Studies teacher, especially for teaching geography. I can't wait to use it next year, and I'll be curious to hear how it goes in your classroom.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Welcome Back
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 02/14/2006 10:23:43 PM
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Steve Lazar is back -- and with a flurry of interesting posts about his thinking and work in graduate school. Well worth an extended glance.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: There are wikis . . .and there are wikis
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 02/11/2006 10:23:17 PM
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Tadge has been up to some serious good with his wiki project. You should give it a look the next time you're planning a training. For example, this Bloglines tutorial is solid, and there's plenty more where that came from. Of course -- it is a wiki -- which means if you see something that needs fixin', go ahead and fix it already. (I'm sure they won't mind.)
Check out the wiki -- and give thanks to folks like Tadge and his team.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Grou.ps
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 02/10/2006 01:34:18 PM
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I'm not sure if this will develop into anything, but I discovered Grou.ps a little while back, and I went ahead and created the Edublogger group. Check it out and join if you think it'd be a worthwhile thing to do.
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AUTHOR: Stephen Lazar
EMAIL: outsidethecave@gmail.com
IP: 66.234.37.29
URL: http://www.stephenlazar.com
DATE: 02/12/2006 11:00:35 AM
I saw this a couple weeks ago and had similar thoughts. I'm not clear how it would work with a large group (seems like the blog aggregate would just be a little information overload). At the same time, it would be a nice place for someone just getting started in edublogging to look.
I'd really love to see a del.icio.us/furl combo just for educators that provides a resource for classroom teachers to find materials and lesson plans. I'm wondering if this could serve a simlar function. Will be curious to see where it goes...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 71.211.19.159
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 02/10/2006 08:43:09 PM
I'm actually not sure -- don't have a clue or a plan. Just thought it was worth a fiddle. I think it's pretty much Suprglu for people who want to co-aggregate content -- but I could be wrong.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/10/2006 08:33:19 PM
Bud, it looks like it could be something, but I'm not sure what. Do you see a direction for it? Or are you totally open to seeing what happens? I'd join, but I'm not sure why yet.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Getting Game
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Games
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Television
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/08/2006 07:41:09 PM
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John's been playing a lot of Worlds of Warcraft lately, ostensibly as research. Clarence talks from time to time about educational gaming. Others have mentioned the idea that we can teach with immersive games, too. I got it, and agreed, intellectually speaking. But I didn't see us quite there in terms of logistics, practicality, and technology. Then I read this story about James Cameron's current projects in Businessweek today:
Cameron has more than a passing interest in simulation and
next-generation games. A former physics major at California State
University, he once served on the board of NASA. Aiming to shoot all
his future films in 3-D, he has helped pioneer a whole suite of 3-D
cameras, tools to capture actors' performances and import them into
simulations, and various post-production techniques. Cameron now sits
on the board of Multiverse, a startup that helps developers create
their own games in return for a cut of the subscription revenues.
"You're seeing what hundreds of thousands of people in this game
environment can create," he says.
Other big directors are glomming onto MMOGs. Imagine Entertainment, the
company run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer that created the TV show 24, has teamed up with producer Jim Banister, Halo
creator Alex Seropian, and others to develop a sci-fi reality show
called XQuest. If it flies, contestants will occupy a cramped
spaceship-like module for a month. Its flight simulators will subject
them to rocket-like conditions, including six Gs of thrust. Players
will ply the galaxy while following the rough contours of a plot.
Outside the ship, online gamers will track the crew's mission and
ultimately board their own PC-based spaceships to rendezvous with
contestants in shared, simulated space. The next season's cast, in
theory, is chosen from those who show the most skill playing the game
at home.
Boy was I wrong. I totally get it now. More later.
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AUTHOR: Justin
EMAIL: thefacultyroom@yahoo.com
IP: 69.74.19.226
URL: http://www.thefacultyroom.net
DATE: 02/09/2006 11:02:42 AM
Being a pretty hard-core player of WoW myself, I certainly see the benefits of the game. In the higher levels, the player MUST have taken efforts to establish themselves as a reliable player, or they are unable to find a group with which to play.
I'm sure it's a great way for me to justify my addition! I owe you one!
Justin
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.56
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 02/08/2006 08:53:18 PM
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3147826
"The new golf."
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Moodle and Wikibooks on Thursday evening
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Moodle
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 02/06/2006 02:42:48 PM
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On Thursday night, on the way home from parent night at school, I recorded this podcast about some of what we're doing with Moodle right now, some of what I wish Moodle could do, and also some of my thoughts about the EducationBridges work to create wikibooks. A nasty virus and the weekend kept me from posting it until now. As always, I'm curious to know your thoughts.
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AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@mac.com
IP: 66.41.88.131
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/12/2006 04:33:10 PM
Bud,
Instead of using the journal module, why not use the assignment module? Then you can choose between replying inline or at the end of the piece.
Inline confuses the daylights out of some of my fifth graders, but your students should be able to handle it just fine :-)
Thanks for another thought-provoking podcast. It actually made cleaning the house almost fun.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tadge
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL:
DATE: 02/08/2006 06:10:51 PM
Bud,
One more thought! I posted earlier just as a reply. Then I listened to your podcast. We are in the final stages of our wiki. I also listened to the educational bridges podcast and had some similar thoughts to what you were talking about. Educational Bridges in my eyes needs to move now on this even if with a small focus. The wiki we are creating might not be a wiki book, but I think what we are doing is going to be similar to what Educational Bridges wants to do.
Also in relation to the shift in learning and content I have my own feelings that there is going to be great possibilities for students to truly anytime anywhere learners, whether it is your iPod or cell phone. This is going to be the type of learning we will be looking at not just static text. I love books and am still an avid reader, but where we are going in the future no one knows. So why only rely on the past practices?
On another note and to stop my rambling I thought you would also like to check out this podcast. I know I am going to pass it on to some teachers I work with and think it would be a great experience for students. Keep trucking!
Tadge
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tadge
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL: http://edtechclass.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/08/2006 05:32:02 PM
Moodle is very similar to Blackboard. I have heard different positives and negatives on both. Personally the conflict is often similar to Mac vs. PC. People will say that Moodle isn't any good because it is open source. Others will say that Blackboard is too restrictive (I can't add things I want to add until Blackboard releases it). If you want to take a listen to one teacher and two students thoughts check out the following podcast. Personally it is what your goals are and what your belief system is. We have Blackboard where I work, but I think that Moodle is a relevant solution to the same thing that Blackboard provides.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: astephens
EMAIL:
IP: 71.97.27.147
URL: http://www.musingsfromtheacademy.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/06/2006 06:36:02 PM
I keep hearing about Moodle... I went to the site and "poked around" to try and figure out what it is. So basically, it is open-source software that allows a user to create an on-line course with assignments, quizzes, etc. Right? Are you familiar with Blackboard? This is the service my school district uses (although far from free). Is Moodle similar?
Thanks for your help!
Astephens
http://www.musingsfromtheacademy.blogspot.com/
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Telling a good story . . .cheaply
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Storytelling
DATE: 02/03/2006 03:17:27 PM
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The tools for making good movies and telling important personal stories are getting cheaper and cheaper. I found this via the Rocky Mountain News:
Mike Potter racked his brain for weeks for the perfect idea. The
Broomfield native's college was holding a contest for movies shot
entirely on cell phones.
The film could only last 30 seconds. And with such a small screen
and such challenging video and sound quality inherent in the medium,
Potter knew he needed his segment to capture a beautiful moment that
was larger than life.
He found his subjects one evening at dinner, in the form of his
grandmother and grandfather, who were seated across from him. Something
about the way they interacted felt priceless.
Potter's film, Cheat, stars his grandparents. This week, it won the $5,000 grand prize in Ithaca College's first CellFlix Festival.
From further down the article:
All it cost him to produce was the $100 he paid for the phone.
One judge called the film "Fantastic. Timeless. Inspiring. Contagious. Lovable. Effective. Visual economy at its best."
And while the film convinces viewers that it's about a game the
elderly couple really plays, it's actually something Potter made up,
based on the playful way he'd seen his grandparents interact.
The film's quite good. Well worth the $5,000 prize. The other finalists are interesting, too.
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AUTHOR: Liz
EMAIL: ponytrax@batnet.com
IP: 71.141.140.243
URL: http://lizditz.typepad.com
DATE: 02/03/2006 08:50:22 PM
Bud, my (high school junior) daughter was given a group English assignment that I thought was wonderful: take 2 scenes from The Glass Menagerie and present it in class, with complete production details: costume sketches, playbill, directors' notes, production notes, etc., etc. Her group elected to film it, and she was the videographer and film editor.
She'd never made a movie before, but I had a digital videocamera and we are Mac users. The only things I showed her how to do were (1) how to operate the camera (2) how to download the film from the camera to iMovie.
Everything else she sussed out by herself. What a powerful learning experience!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Anonymity (Again)
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 02/01/2006 11:18:49 PM
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Today's podcast features some thoughts about anonymity, both with students and with teachers. Curious to hear what you think. Does anonymity have its place in the classroom? How about anywhere else?
On a side note -- I've been doing about one podcast a month for a little while now. Should I be doing more? Fewer?
If there's an interest, I'll keep trucking away -- but if I'm only entertaining Ani and myself, I'll quit uploading the files -- although I can't guarantee that I won't keep recording.
Links from the podcast:
Justin's Faculty Room.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Marco Polo
EMAIL: marco47jp@yahoo.co.uk
IP: 210.128.172.66
URL: http://autonolearner.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/28/2006 05:06:26 AM
Hi, enjoy your podcasts. This is nearly a month late, but I've had a lot of catching up to do! I agree with C. Hatton Humphrey above. I use a degree of anonymity in order that I can remain free to write (and maybe one day also podcast) about my work without fearing a backlash. We've all heard horror stories recently about people being fired or raked over the coals for things they wrote on their blog; some summarily fired without the chance of stating their case. I'd rather not go through that! So anonymity can actually be a way to be MORE (not less) truthful. And I disagree that anonymity allows someone the licence to just say a whole bunch of unsubstantiated stuff, to lie, in other words. The same rules about checking your sources still apply, whether the person blogs by their real name or not. It makes no difference. And blog-readers DO check (not all of them, and not all the time), so if I want to say a bunch of complete nonsense online, pretty soon people are going to wise up and stop visiting. As I wrote here, I don't think telling the world exactly who you are has any bearing on your credibility. Your credibility comes from your writing, your track-record, regardless of who (you say) you are. And there are lots of good reasons (such as protecting your family and loved ones, your work relationships) for using a pseudonym. Someone I know always wants to know WHO made such-and-such a criticism. This person then accepts or rejects the criticism, not on its merits but simply depending on WHO said it! I've since learned to never give them name of the person when passing on opinions to this person (even, or particularly! when those opinions are my own).
Or am I getting "anonymous" mixed up with "pseudonymous"?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Justin
EMAIL: thefacultyroom@yahoo.com
IP: 69.74.19.226
URL: http://www.thefacultyroom.net
DATE: 02/09/2006 11:00:15 AM
Excellent cast! Sorry that it took so long for me to listen in. Thank you very much for the plug. You raise very interesting questions regarding forged anonimity in chat rooms.
I have been trying, since I came to my district, to form an online forum where my students can ask each other, and me, questions. I know that many students won't come to ask me questions because they are either afraid of ridicule from their peers, or, as a students stated today, because they are afraid of me. I can be very intimidating to my students, even when I don't mean to be.
A certain level of anonimity for the students would be a very useful tool in such an instance. Each student would register a handle, or user ID with the teacher at the start of the year and no other students would know the handle of anyone else.
I'm pushing my supervisor for something of this kind, like a virtual office, but so far, I've come up with nothing.
Anyway, thanks again for the plug!
Justin
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: C. Hatton Humphrey
EMAIL: hat@ithinkitsnifty.com
IP: 24.52.231.23
URL: http://www.ithinkitsnifty.com
DATE: 02/05/2006 12:17:34 PM
Enjoyed the podcast, good things to think about and thanks for the stream of consiousness post! I don't know if I completely agree with you on the anonymity... there are many different communications media where people don't use their real name, both online and offline.
Many people have a desire to make statements that may endanger them in some way, in this case they use the anonymity as a shield from whatever danger they face. Other folks just don't want their personal information thrown about. It's all schism anyway!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: graycie
EMAIL: rwcaa@infionline.net
IP: 4.248.228.152
URL: http://graycie5198.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/05/2006 08:26:42 AM
As far as anonimity goes with my kids' writing, I will allow pen names for shared pieces. However, I must know who wrote what -- if for no other reason than to give teacher responses. This allows kids to write about sensitive subjects safely, while controlling lapses in judgment, which my high school freshmen definitely have.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jo McLeay
EMAIL: jbmcleay@gmail.com
IP: 210.8.187.106
URL: http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/02/2006 09:49:15 PM
Please keep going. I enjoy listening and learn lots. The podcasts always give me something to think about and I look forward to seeing a new one in my iTunes.
Jo
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Langhorst
EMAIL: speakingofhistory@gmail.com
IP: 65.30.51.229
URL: http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/02/2006 08:29:36 PM
Keep it up - this is one of the first podcasts that I found.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tadge O'Brien
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL: http://edtechclass.blogspot.com/
DATE: 02/02/2006 05:18:32 PM
Keep the podcasts!! As for anonymity I am not sure how I feel? Saying that I can't think of too many times of it being useful in a place where a learning community is occurring. How can one be anonymous and part of a learning community?
Oh and as for your co-contributor in the backseat she does great work:)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: ArtGuy
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 10.69.4.183
URL: http://www.academicaesthetic.com
DATE: 02/02/2006 06:53:49 AM
Agreed! It's always great to hear your thoughts on education and technology, and your co-pilot's additions to the podcast are very thurough :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.56
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 02/02/2006 06:47:23 AM
Keep them coming.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.56
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 02/02/2006 06:42:52 AM
Keep them coming.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Yep.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 01/30/2006 08:07:09 PM
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Yep. (Thanks, John. I get it now.)
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AUTHOR: Amy Hendrickson
EMAIL: ahendrickson@mnerats.org
IP: 172.135.144.48
URL: http://www.northernsun.wordpress.org
DATE: 02/01/2006 09:26:50 PM
Hi Bud: Thanks for the note you left in my blog. I have been reading your stuff for a while. I got linked to you through John Pederson (who I consider my "blog father" :) ) I have been a high school teacher for about 11 years - it'll be a big jump to trying it more "on my own". I live in a really blue-collar area where there's no charter schools for nearly 100 miles from us, and I know that I'm going to face a lot of road-blocks. Maybe I'll fall flat on my face, but it's better than dying a little each day over things that I have no control over in my present teaching position. Nice post. Yep, I totally "get it" too. Thanks again for the comments - Amy Hendrickson
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Defining ARG's
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Storytelling
DATE: 01/30/2006 07:52:41 PM
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Here's a really good definition of Alternate Reality Games by a guy who helped write one of the more interesting recent ones:
You can be standing in a parking lot, or a shopping center. A pay phone near you will ring, and on the other end will be someone demanding information.
ARGs
combine video, text adventure, radio plays, audio, animation,
improvisational theater, graphics, and story into an immersive
experience. The game doesn’t just happen online: players are sent out into the real world to meet one another and complete tasks. Players have traveled thousands of miles to follow clues to their source.
Unlike
many video games, where players are encouraged to use cutthroat tactics
against one another in search of victory, ARGs encourage cooperative
play and the formation of ad hoc ommunities. No
one player can possibly have all the knowledge and skills necessary to
succeed in the game, and players are required to combine their talents
and share information. The ARG is all about the creation of community through a shared experience. The
games attract a somewhat older audience than video games, more or less
evenly divided between men and women, and with better social skills.
Interested in learning more? Then you probably should have clicked over to Williams' blog to read the rest of this fascinating, behind-the-scenes post. But, you might also try this link.
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AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.56
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 01/31/2006 08:43:25 AM
Wow. There isn't much on the Internet these days that's completely new to me. This has me thinking hard.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: My Thoughts on Wiki Textbooks
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 01/30/2006 11:00:41 AM
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I just posted some of my thinking about a wiki textbook project to the EducationBridges wiki. Feel free to edit and improve upon the seed thinking that's there.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: How Long Do You Think It Will Be
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 01/30/2006 10:32:05 AM
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How long do you think it will be before the spellcheck in my blog software knows the word "blogger" and doesn't see to correct me everytime I use it?
I've been blogging for a year now, and it still hasn't happened.
But I'm hopeful.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner@aapt.net.au
IP: 10.72.136.73
URL: http://www.gwegner.edublogs.org
DATE: 01/31/2006 02:58:43 PM
My Pocket PC now prompts me for the words edublogger and edublogosphere when I am in typing mode so its software program recognises them as real words! Maybe it's because I use it so much.......
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vicki Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 216.212.250.34
URL: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/30/2006 02:16:30 PM
That drives me crazy also. There are few others:
Wiki
RSS
wikipedia
blogosphere
blog
It seems that blogger.com would add "blogger" to its recognized word list!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: It's Monday
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 01/30/2006 09:53:06 AM
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While I haven't been posting here much in the last several days, my head and heart have been firmly entrenched in the edublogosphere. I've been trying to catch up on my reading and taking the time to comment on some of the folks who are keeping me on my toes. Also, I've been listening to an awful lot of podcasts as I've caught up on some of the less, ahem, interesting chores around the house. (The first year you put up Christmas lights on your house, you do get permission to leave them up until almost the end of January, right?)
I'm reminded as I read and comment that this is one of the essential tasks of a reflective blogger. Read. Think. Respond. Repeat. Write. (I think that's the gist of Will's definition of what a blogger does -- but I can't find the link right now.) Good thinking and good teaching only come as a result of good input -- and the ratio of input to output is something like 10:1.
One thing that I'm following closely right now is the Wikibook (or Wiki Textbook -- the name changes, because it's a work in progress) conversation going on over at EducationBridges. They're doing an awful lot of thinking about how to create an "open source" curriculum as well as create ways to train folks on how to use it. I wish I could make the live chats -- but I'm still learning a great deal in my car and on my walks from what everyone over there is talking about. Dave has some wonderful ideas that get good conversations started, and Jeff is one of the best moderators out there.
They're setting up for a huge project, but one that's got a potentially large payoff for students and teachers and schools. I hope they can negotiate all of the great ideas into a meaningful product. I hope I can find a productive way to contribute.
I hope that you can, too.
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TITLE: Stories to Tell
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/01/31#a5151
IP: 206.117.44.181
BLOG NAME: EduBlog Insights
DATE: 01/31/2006 04:09:34 PM
I like Bud's post, It's Monday .
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Confession and Some Thoughts on Modern Storytelling
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Storytelling
CATEGORY: Television
DATE: 01/24/2006 12:00:00 PM
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Okay, so I've got to come clean with all of you: I'm a Lost fan. I'm not ashamed -- my wife and I really enjoy deconstructing the show and we both enjoy the way the show paints its main characters -- but I feel like I should come clean.
Earlier today, I was catching up on some reading on my listservs, and I came across a thread asking about uses for Lost in the classroom. I didn't have any specific ideas, but I did write the following because I got to thinking about some of what Lost is doing on television, and how that relates to other trends I'm noticing. I'm curious to know what you think.
I've been struck by how Lost is moving off of television and onto the Internet and other
places. Several "mythology off the show" websites have sprung up
that contain hidden secrets of the show. Some links:
(The fictional airline of the show -- there
are some interesting bits of text hidden in the code of this page.)
(The group behind the mysterious hatch and the Dharma Initiative.)
(This is a link to a novel purportedly written by someone who dies on
the plane crash. While the cover of the book features a Lost
logo, the description on the Amazon page acknowledges the fiction that
the author died in a fake plane crash.)
Now, I know that some of this stuff is just to create hype for
the show and to sell a few more products, but I'm really intrigued by
the idea of telling a story in several different media -- along the
lines of how The Matrix involved comic books, anime, and video games
in its storytelling.
As media get more and more complex, how should we be teaching
the concept of "story?" How do we trust a site like Amazon when
they themselves play the game of the fictional story?
A while back, some of my students interested me in the concept of
Alternate Reality Games , fictional
stories that reach out to real people via text messaging, late night
phone calls, and a ton of other real interactions. (I played one of the first, but I didn't know they were called such back when I started playing.) Heck -- one
author a while back wrote a book called A Treasure's Trove and hid
more than a million dollars in real treasure all over the United States
(There were clues in the book to help you discover the real treasure. All but one of the treasure jewels have been found so far).
Is the nature of story telling changing, in some
ways? Or is this a bogus question, and has nothing
really started to change?
I don't have a clue about the answers -- but I find this stuff
really, really interesting. As a reader of textual and visual
media, I am very captivated by some of these developments. How can we help our students to both navigate these new environments -- and, more importantly, create their own?
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AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner@aapt.net.au
IP: 10.57.151.58
URL: http://www.gwegner.edublogs.org
DATE: 01/26/2006 05:12:26 PM
I recently posted about how when a story is told over time, the cultural re-mix but from a younger students' level using Dr. Seuss's The Cat In The Hat. They often don't realise how much of our text based culture references history or traditional stories - this is how shows like the Simpsons can engage the adults as much as the kids. Hey, my wife loves "Lost" too - unfortunately I rarely watch TV (too much online) but it does break the mould of cops, law and medical dramas that seem to be everywhere.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL:
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 01/26/2006 06:54:54 AM
My roomate in college played Majestic like a fiend. Of course, he wasn't interested much in actually playing the game (the phone calls in the middle of the night were a big pain), but he worked tirelessly to unravel the game, trying to poke holes in their story. He even went as far as to look through California phonebooks trying to disprove the addresses they had given in the game.
On a side note, I was reading a news article the other day about Geocaching. Basically it's the same thing as the hidden treasure, but you place another item in the location once you find the treasure. That way people can continue to play. Unfortunately, a road crew had found one hiding place (it was under a bridge)and had an anti-bomb squad team blow it up for fear that it was a bomb.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Staying Safe
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 01/23/2006 08:33:56 PM
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Darren's complied a collection of some solid blogging safety resources. Also, he's posted a recent interview he gave about how blogging is a part of his classroom practice. Well worth a listen. Still more good stuff -- he's also begun to blog over at nonscholae.org, a:
site devoted to the responsible use of blogs,
photosharing, podcasts, web hosting, educational games, instant
messaging and other social software in schools. Our students want to be
web authors, create content and take part in distributed conversations,
not just web consumers.
Non scholae sed vitae discimus
We learn, not for school, but for life - Seneca, Epistulae
We believe that these tools and resources should not be blocked or banned
from schools. As educators, we should be familiarising learners with
these technologies, supporting and facilitating their responsible use
and equipping our students with the skills to keep them safe and savvy
in the online world.
However, at the moment, many schools are simply closing their eyes,
banning these technologies and doing their learners a disservice in the
process.
We want to persuade and help you to persuade your school, district
and department that this is an irresponsible approach to information
communication technology literacy. To do that we publish a regular blog, maintain a critical analysis of software and filters, have a simple manifesto signed by hundreds of teachers and experts in education from around the world and a number of resources ranging from more information about the movement to pamphlets and lesson plans.
You can also join us and become a blog and resource author or contact us for feedback or press inquiries.
They're just getting rolling, but Nonscholae.org is a good first step towards organizing a collection of blogging resources.
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AUTHOR: Keith P. Stieneke
EMAIL: webmaster@opportunityassistance.com
IP: 24.169.245.128
URL: http://www.blogsmart-resources.com/news.html
DATE: 01/24/2006 09:18:48 PM
Interesting. Learning about blogging in the classroom. A sign of the times, I guess!!!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: But Who's Watching the Bloggers Who Are Watching the Bloggers?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 01/19/2006 10:12:25 PM
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Mediashift, a new blog from PBS that will focus on New Media, made its debut yesterday. Looks pretty interesting:
And each week, I’ll pose a more pointed question to you all to get
Your Take. The following week, I’ll do a roundup of the best of what
you’ve offered to share with us. And once per week, I’ll do a feature
called Digging Deeper that will include deeper thinking and even
interviews. Eventually, I’ll start a weekly podcast, add audio and
video to the site, and do more stories that include you in a two-way
conversation.
And I hope that together we can break the bonds of traditional
blogging and journalism. The more I think about the traditional way of
doing journalism, the more questions I have about it. If I’m a movie
critic, for instance, why does my view rate in importance? I got in
free to the movie, the movie stars are there for me to interview, why
do I know better than you?
And as a journalist reporting a feature story or news story, why do
I only talk to the usual analysts and experts? Why are the same people
quoted over and over again in all the different news outlets? Are they
really that much smarter than you are?
I'm subscribed.
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AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 207.74.8.2
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 01/20/2006 09:38:34 AM
Thanks for the promising sounding blog Bud. I must admit, I'm an NPR fanatic, but haven't made the transition over to PBS News. Perhaps this blog will help bridge the gap.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Literature Carnival
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 01/16/2006 10:19:14 PM
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Dana's doing a weekly roundup of blog posts pertaining to books and literature. Check out her fourth edition of the Literature Carnival. If you're writing about books or lit, there's information there on how to contribute.
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AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL: dana.huff@gmail.com
IP: 68.190.34.209
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 01/17/2006 03:08:24 PM
Thanks, Bud! I appreciate the link.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: MLK Day
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 01/16/2006 03:19:40 PM
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I'm sitting in a coffeehouse in my hometown trying to bang out some thoughts on a conference proposal as well as get a reading list put together for my science fiction course that begins tomorrow.
It has not escaped my mind that today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Been running through the back of my head all day, in fact -- but not for why you might think.
When I was a child in North Carolina, I read and re-read Dr. King's biographies that were in the school library. I distinctly remember a carpeted reading tunnel in an elementary classroom where I escaped with a copy of a Dr. King book after finishing a test or something. I remember falling asleep in the tunnel, perhaps one of the safest places ever -- a good book open across my chest.
I still believe that we've got a long way to go on race relations in the world -- and it's only getting more complicated and interesting as I can immediately reach out and touch someone on all of the continents of our planet, thanks to Skype or this blog or a multitude of other tools. It's weird -- I regularly talk to some of you halfway around the world, but I don't know the names of everyone that lives on my street. But that's not why I've been thinking about Dr. King today.
Last year, on MLK Day, I opened up my aggregator and found the complete audio recording of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream Speech." (It turns out that was probably an illegal copy, as I discovered this morning.) I didn't expect it -- it just showed up via OpenPodcast.org. Someone thought it was a good day for the reminder. They were right.
That was a big moment for me in terms of learning about how technology can touch people. The impersonal computer sent an impersonal string of ones and zeroes into my impersonal cable modem and then into my indifferent computer hard drive. Later, I put on my sterile plastic headphones and was transported back thirty-some years by the warm, fatherly voice of a man I've never met who made an awful big difference in the world.
I know -- it's not a new revelation for the world, or for most of you reading this -- but it was one of those "Aha!" moments for me. Not only can we connect with the past -- but we can push the past right onto the MP3 players of those around us.
These tools can change lives. Not bad for silicon, plastic and electrons.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 01/19/2006 06:14:49 AM
Thanks for the comments.
Fritz, I do think that blogs have the potential to bridges differences because they begin with words and ideas. Someone who comes here or anywhere else to read about a position different from their own can do so at their own pace without pressure from the "other side." When that person is ready to converse, he can do so from the safety of his or her own space. It's a good way to begin a conversation. Discussion forums often get heated and angry, but I do think that we can build communities of disagreement via blogs. We've all got to remember, though, to get involved with blogs and bloggers who share different opinions from our own. I could probably be better about that.
Tony's absolutely right -- any mind is a terrible thing to waste. When I was a kid, I used to accompany my father to fundraisers for the UNCF -- and that tagline still sends shivers down my spine.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tony Iovino
EMAIL: tonyiovino@gmail.com
IP: 68.161.15.107
URL: http://redmindbluestate.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/18/2006 05:27:36 AM
Excellent post.
Let's not forget, though, that it wasn't the inanimate objects that enabled those words to re-touch you. It was the educated minds, standing on the shoulders of other dreamers and doers, that caused it.
As a conservative Republican that has always been one of the key reasons for anti-discrimination, one rarely articulated: That as rare and as importatnt as our natural resources are,brain power is rarer and more prescious. We can't afford not to nurture every mind, regardless of the body that houses it. It is our minds that create wealth and health; it is our minds that allow life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, to complete the circle, they are terrible things to waste.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Fritz
EMAIL: richard@masoner.net
IP: 199.45.160.5
URL: http://www.cyclelicio.us/
DATE: 01/17/2006 09:13:18 PM
I live in an awesome neighborhood -- I do know all the people on my block and we all periodically have get-togethers.
Do you still really believe that Blogs and other online forums are useful for opening up dialogue between different people? Just about every blog out there seems to exist to harangue the "other side" of whatever issue they're about, and the only regular readers of those blogs serve only to reinforce whatever ideology they're about. Left, right, blue, red, religious or not -- they all have their own echo chambers. There's no compromise or tolerance or "let's get along" in any of these forums.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Are we Telling Lies?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 01/12/2006 09:47:18 PM
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Tim is in the midst of an interesting series of posts about the lies that we tell our students. The "we" refers primarily to secondary language arts teachers. Here's lie number four:
In the first series under Lies ELA Teachers Tell,
I will discuss the top five lies we tell our students. As with
everything we do as teachers, we are well-meaning with these lies.
But, in the long-term, these lies hurt our students. I will discuss
the lie, what we really mean when we tell the lie, and how we can
achieve the same objective.
Why do we tell this lie? How did we become so arrogant as to think
we had the right to say which books were important to read and which
aren't?
I'm not sure how this became such a common lie, and no doubt there
will be some who disagree with me. You can see the comments to the
post about why whole-class, teacher-selected books don't work for
other's thoughts as well as mine. Let's for a minute forget the
cultural capital argument of reading some books over others, however
valid of an argument it might be.
What disturbs me most is that when we say this, we take a little
power away from students AND hurt their critical thinking. Shouldn't
they decide what's important and why? That can be empowering, as well
as exercise the critical thinking muscle of evaluating. They would
have to be able to justify their reasons for thinking a book is
important and we can share how other people define "important".
Students can further evaluate others' criteria for "importance". How
many perfectly good lessons surrounding this are thrown away when we
decide what's important?
Too often, though, we take that power away.
Next time: Lie #3 We Tell Our Students ... "A paragraph contains 3-5 sentences."
For what it's worth, I've never told any student that a paragraph contains three to five sentences. Heck, frequent readers of this blog know that some of my paragraphs contain one sentence. Some of those, one word. I deliberately play with the length of sentences and paragraphs for intentional effect. I'll even use a sentence fragment if it helps convey meaning. Our students should, too. (And the adults that teach them should understand that doing so isn't automatically wrong.)
I'm interested to see what Tim has to say about paragraphs. He's blogging some pretty interesting stuff right now -- if you're not paying attention, maybe he's worth a look.
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AUTHOR: Charles Nelson
EMAIL: charles.p.nelson@gmail.com
IP: 4.250.72.20
URL: http://secondlanguagewriting.com
DATE: 01/15/2006 06:19:52 AM
I believe that if more teachers played sports they wouldn't oversimplify about paragraphs having 3-5 sentences. In sports, coachs have players go through simple and repetitive drills. They then have practices in which those drills are combined. And finally they have real games. What would be the parallel pattern of teaching in writing?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.251.107.198
URL:
DATE: 01/14/2006 09:12:28 PM
Thanks for the heads up on Tim's blog. It looks good.
I think we lie to students sometimes because we want to symplify the subject, to make things easier for them at the time. The problem is that eventually they find out that it isn't quite that simple and then they have to unlearn what we have taught them. I see this a lot in teaching the lower levels of ESL. I am not always sure what I think the best solution is.
But, like you, I haven't told students that a paragraph ahs 3-5 sentences. Some lies seem more heinous than others!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.60.208
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 01/13/2006 08:34:15 AM
I've never been entirely comfortable with the 3-5 thing or, quite frankly, any of the "formulas for writing." Every one of them makes the writing predictable, forced, and, well, formulaic.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Is it all just hype?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 01/12/2006 07:39:21 PM
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This should be a very interesting conversation:
Is our enthusiasm for web 2.0 technologies misplaced? I think that's the essential question Wesley Fryer was talking about in his post Luddite criticisms of technology and modernism on January 4. Wes, Miguel Guhlin, Ewan McIntosh and I are getting together tonight to discuss these 5 questions:
- 1. Is enthusiasm in the blogsphere for web 2.0 overblown,
since the realities of the modern, accountability-driven classroom
overpower individual drives for creative innovation?
- 2. Is there hope for systemic school reform in the United States? Elsewhere in the world?
- 3.
Should schools repurpose their existing educational technology budgets,
which largely serve now to support a traditional transmission-based
model (pedagogy) of instruction? (And do something radical instead,
like pay their teachers more?!)
- 4. Will corporate
interests (Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc) overpower the energy
of web 2.0 technologies in their drive to monetize the Internet?
- 5.
How much should our enthusiasm for web 2.0, technology specifically and
modernism in general be tempered by the “costs” we hear and know about
regarding globalism?
I'll be listening to this podcast as soon as I can get it.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: End of the Quarter
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 01/11/2006 10:58:37 PM
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It's the end of our second quarter tomorrow, which means that I'm trying to catch up on all the work that both came in late and that I'm a little behind in grading. I'm taking a break in large part because I need to flex my writerly muscles after so much reading.
One of the most frustrating parts of teaching and assigning writing is that I can't read, digest, and respond to everything that I ask my students to do in as timely a manner as I would like. By the time I get to some papers, students have moved on to other thoughts, ideas, and assignments, and the opportunity that might have existed to push a particular student's thinking in a new direction has moved on.
I know I can't grade or respond to everything. I also know that sometimes, writing an assignment is in and of itself good practice, regardless of feedback.
But still, a person's writing is a fragile and precious thing, particularly if that person is a new writer. If the student was kind enough to really engage an assignment, it's hard to realize that I won't always be able to honestly engage their contribution to our conversations.
But I owe them that much.
One of the reasons I like the idea of learning networks so much is that a network distributes the load and the responsibility of giving feedback. A student in such a network has the (potential) audience of the entire network from which to receive (potential) feedback.
Clarence has been writing about learning networks lately. He writes:
One major lesson I have learned about blogging with kids is that
authentic purposes and spaces to write makes the difference between a
successful experience and not. Kids demand choices when working in
these ways, and given the opportunity to write for a global audience,
they will find spaces that match their interests and their style. I do
definitely appreciate the number of classes that are blogging, and the
teachers that have made contact with me, but we are still learning to
understand that when we work in ways like this, we are giving kids
opportunities for choice.
When we set up RSS feeds for our
kids, and give them choices about the networks they will form, the
information they are interested in, and the writers whose style they
appreciate, we need to learn that the information spheres they have
access to are as wide as our own. No one tells us who we must read
(outside of suggestion), and no one tells us where we must write.
Blogging gives kids choices, and we must support them in their choices
if this is the type of learning environment we hope to structure for
them.
The students in my class have formed networks on their
own. Their RSS feeds fill with the blogs of other students in our
class, the blogs of other student writers from across Western Canada,
the U.S., Europe, and parts of Asia; but we have much room for
improvement. We need to learn how these networks form and how to
capitalize on them for learning purposes. We must learn how to pull
kids together in learning networks for short periods of time and then
pull other groups of kids together in flexible groupings at other times
for other purposes. We need to form networks of classrooms who are
willing to come and go, who are willing to work together for short
periods of time and then drop off, when projects are completed, moving
on to other groups for other purposes.
If we want to work in
these ways, we must push ourselves further towards authenticity,
towards flexibility, towards understanding what learning means in this
new world.
Of course, Clarence is talking about how tricky it can be to ask students to talk to one another without choosing favorites. He makes the point very nicely that students who have real choice in their learning will not have to talk to everyone. Nor should they. I've got to believe, though, that, given enough students in enough classrooms, everyone can find someone to connect with via their words and ideas, at least for a short time.
I like that teachers like Clarence continually push my thinking about how to teach, reach and publish writers and their writing. His post on the blogging doldrums that hit his class over the holidays was full of good ideas.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Correction
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 01/11/2006 09:42:44 PM
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A few days back, I shared a question that Tadge had about wikis. I used the feminine pronouns "she" and "her" to refer to Tadge.
He corrected me on this mistake today. Oops. I have corrected the original post and I humbly apologize for the error.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Welcome to the Moodle
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Moodle
DATE: 01/10/2006 10:29:18 PM
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Susan is Moodling. Check out what she noticed on the first day.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Better Late than Never
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 01/06/2006 09:29:24 PM
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I got a really interesting e-mail question from Tadge about three weeks ago. Then the holidays hit and I got distracted. (Sorry, Tadge.) He asked a really good question, one that I'd like to think about some more, but I thought I'd share (with his permission, of course):
I am an Instructional Technology Specialist in Upstate NY and we are
going to be building a Wiki to help our teachers. With the recent
Wikipedia incident relating to John Seigenthaler and the defaming that
occurred I am wondering about disclaimers and such that should be added
to our prospective wiki. I am curious if you have thought about this at
all. I know I heard a discussion that Bob Sprankle, you, and another
gentleman earlier this week. One comment was about students use of
blogs and conversation that is had within the classroom.
Unfortunately I work for a Board of Cooperative Educational Services,
and we serve over 50,000 students across 10 districts. I am not so
worried about students defacing the wiki, but rather preparing for
others prospective questions about the concern. I know one thing that I
am considering is making the wiki require a password (though I may am
some what against it). I noticed that you don't have a disclaimer on
your wiki and was wondering if this was purposeful or just not thought
about?
I didn't put one up because I didn't think to do so. He further elaborated:
My concern with a wiki, that is completely open like Wikipedia, would
be someone defacing it without my knowledge, or an anonymous IP doing
damage. I know that it comes down to respecting other peoples space and
citizenship, but the Internet has no governing body. Personally the
disclaimer issue has been bouncing around in my head recently. I am
thinking something simple if the wiki has some sort of security
attached to it. Such as requiring a password and login to be created.
The level of security though can inhibit the exchange of ideas, as well
as turn some people away. I am have just been doing some research about
it trying to put a process in place before making it public. I know
that there are skeptics and I want to be able to intrigue the early
adopters and make the fence sitters see the benefits.
At the same time I don't know everything about technology and I want
others with more knowledge to be able to share it if they would like.
This is why I am thinking of taking some security measures, whether
that is requiring passwords or putting a watch on all pages I haven't
really figured it out. I appreciate your thoughts and did get another
response about a college who is using wikis and they have actually
locked them down to prevent hacking and defacing. I will let you know
how things are going.
So -- what do y'all think? I know that I've been fighting wiki spam lately -- a related issue, but not specifically what Tadge is asking about. What sorts of disclaimers would you write for a wiki? Do we need to do so? Here's a sandbox -- go to work if you'd like. (Background -- Bob Sprankle's amazing students did a podcast on the John S. story. It's a great listen!
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AUTHOR: Mr. Tadge O'Brien
EMAIL: obrient@frontiernet.net
IP: 67.50.138.112
URL:
DATE: 01/11/2006 06:00:20 PM
First of all sorry Bud for not signing my signature as Mr. (No offense taken by the way as I have had it happen before). Art I do agree with you about creating logins. I have been planning on doing this since it adds validity to the posts as well as helps eliminate some of the concerns that I have. The only downside that I see is the fact that it creates another login and barrier to the social construction of knowledge. Even with the ability to create a login I am worried about the problems that Wikipedia had with the John Seigenthaler Sr. story. I am thinking that there has to be some means to keep this type of information valid and make it open. Thanks for the suggestion as right now I think I am blabbering. I look forward to sharing the link when it is ready!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Art Gelwicks
EMAIL: art@webedtech.com
IP: 204.74.20.14
URL: http://www.webedtech.com
DATE: 01/09/2006 10:40:12 AM
One suggestion is to apply usernames and passwords at the folder level on the web server hosting your Wiki. Now this won't prevent the most dedicated hacker from getting access, but it will keep your wiki away from the general world while still giving access to the people who should have it.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Hyperlocal -- Sometimes, with Several Asides
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 01/06/2006 09:01:05 PM
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I've been really happy to see that my students are beginning to embrace the hyperlocal idea that I've been pushing for in regards to our school newspaper (this doesn't seem like the right term anymore - -but what do you call it? Newsblog? Hyperlocal Journalism Site? Doesn't really roll off the tongue, does it? Any suggestions?). We've got a long way to go, and I think I'd like to write more about what the quarter's been like (maybe a podcast on what we've been up to) as we've gotten used to the idea that we're writing online.
One good example of a hyperlocal story - one you won't hear about anywhere else - is the recent theft of a camera from our computer lab. The story's good on the basics, and is a big step for the writer who wrote it. You won't see the story anywhere else, and it marks an important benchmark for the student who wrote it.
I'm very pleased that she would cover the issue in the first place, and I've enjoyed watching her writing improve as she starts relying more on her ideas and less on the words of her sources. (I even think she's going to sign on to take the class again next quarter, in spite of the fact that I've already told her that she'll be podcasting her stories after she writes them.)
Another story that I was especially pleased with this week is Rance's editorial on Internet filtering. Although I want to look at filtering as a possible thesis topic, Rance proposed the story quite some time ago, and I tried to stay out of his way. (I wonder sometimes about how my enthusiasm for a particular topic or idea influences the way that a student proceeds. It's a tricky issue.)
I'd like Rance to play more with some of the wording in the piece, but I thought it was ready to be published. (John Temple recently pointed out one distinct advantage that online journalism has over print -- the ability to change the story after it first runs. I'm not one hundred percent comfortable with making changes to a "published" piece -- but I think the web lends itself to such. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)
One more note -- I've turned off all the commenting screening that I was doing when the site first began. Feel free to share your thoughts with our student writers, if you so desire. It should be pretty easy, now that the bumbling teacher's gotten out of the way.
Yes -- there's lots more to say about how we've put OldeSchoolNews.com together -- but that's info for another day.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Friday Night Socratic Moment
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/06/2006 08:40:12 PM
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The more I teach, the more I realize how little I actually know and how much more I really have to learn.
And soon.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: In a Hurry?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 01/04/2006 11:01:21 PM
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In today's podcast (actually, it was recorded yesterday), I'm thinking about several recent posts by some of the bigger guns of the educational blogosphere. As Will Richardson and Steve Dembo and Stephen Downes and John Pederson and others entered the new year, they were writing some stuff that seem pretty urgent/anxious/eager to me. Amazing combinations of the personal and professional, actually. I'm curious to know what you think.
Also, I'm talking about a recent Rocky Mountain News article that looks at money and performance in schools. (Extra! Spending more, by itself, doesn't improve student performance. If that's s surprising headline for you, try this one: Extra! Driving home during rush hour takes longer!) All the links for the show are included in the previous paragraphs.
Enjoy.
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AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 65.166.85.30
URL: http://teach42.com
DATE: 01/13/2006 08:14:14 AM
Just got finished listening to the podcast and spent about 20 minutes nodding my head in agreement. You bring up some great points. As to my role and what Discovery is doing, suffice to say I wouldn't have joined them if I didn't see them actively working to address some of these issues.
Tim makes a great point when he comments, "I think the excitement/ frustration that you mentioned in your podcast is due to unmet potential."
That's where I'm hoping that we come in. We're finding ways to turn potential into reality. It isn't a quick process, but I think we're moving in the right direction. Time will tell.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Marco Polo
EMAIL: marco47jp@yahoo.co.uk
IP: 61.86.81.1
URL: http://autonolearner.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/13/2006 07:06:54 AM
Enjoyed your podcast. (BTW, can't see the link to your podcast on this page. It would be useful if it was).
I think your unease may be due to the fearless and critical gaze that many bloggers and teachers are directing at certain "sacred cows", e.g. the institutions that feed them. "Who needs schools?" is a scary question for many. I don't see any way that teachers (or anyone, really) with integrity can avoid asking this kind of question at some stage or other. We haven't always had schools, it is well to remember. I recommend The Underground History of American Education.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Timothy McKean
EMAIL: timothymckean@gmail.com
IP: 24.126.234.255
URL:
DATE: 01/10/2006 12:17:12 AM
Thank you so much!
It was great to listen to your podcast and know that others are also feeling the way that I do. Frankly I think that's the power of this technology is connecting with others and sharing and learning from others that you would never have come in contact with otherwise.
I think the excitement/ frustration that you mentioned in your podcast is due to unmet potential. You said that you have been blogging for almost a year now, I'm just getting started in this whole thing (mostly reading and commenting on others blogs) but we are all starting to see the vast potential that these technologies hold for education. The trouble is that we can't clearly see how yet, but we know there is something great there. That's the excitement. Steven Covey teaches that our frustration is a function of our expectations. In this case we expect that these tools are going to have a huge impact the education, but the education world does not change quickly. It will take time for these adaptations to take place. In the mean time we keep plugging away and doing our best. For me personally, the frustration comes in reading others blogs and listening to great podcasts such as yours, roon 208, and edtechtalk, and not knowing were I fit into this world and what I can do when I am getting such a late start.
Addressing your second issue, the frustration also comes when I go back to my school and realize that some people think that using technology in the classroom means checking their email or using powerpoint. Your comment about money being mis-spent is dead on. Money for technology cannot all go to buying computers. Too many times I hear people use the term technology synonymously with computers/ equipment. The equipment is not the important part, rather what the teacher can do with it. I think that much more resources need to go into faculty training and development to teach teachers what to do with the technology and equipment that is available to them already. I am interested to follow Jeff Lebow and Dave Cormeir as they pursue their edtech consulting project. That would be an area that I could really see myself getting more involved in as well.
Thanks for giving us all a great podcast to get the ideas flowing anad staarting the important conversations.
Tim McKean
PS. if you're still in the market for a new car, I highly reccomend the MINI cooper.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Here's One Way to Do It
STATUS: Draft
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 01/04/2006 10:13:36 PM
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Darren, as usual, is up to some really good stuff. He's just set out the map of how he has blogged/is blogging/will blog with his students. Pretty interesting stuff. I especially like how he intends to stagger the entry of particular tools/strategies. I hope he's working on his book.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I Hope they've got enough Napkins . . .
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/30/2005 04:29:13 PM
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It's going to be a pretty big New Year's party over at Worldbridges -- what with everyone from Will Richardson to Madge Weinstein on the guest list to discuss the coming year. (How crazy is that?) I'll definitely be listening as I can sneak away from other work, as it should be quite the conversation.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: My Little Reader
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 12/29/2005 10:42:26 PM
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Ani, now 1 year old, pauses recently for some light reading before dinner.
Just Readin'
Originally uploaded by Bud the Teacher.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lisa Williams
EMAIL: lisa@cadence90.com
IP: 146.115.58.193
URL: http://www.cadence90.com
DATE: 01/03/2006 04:50:30 AM
Awwwww! I love that age, they're so much fun!
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL:
DATE: 12/30/2005 03:27:55 PM
She's adorable, Bud! And obviously off to a good start!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A present
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 12/24/2005 01:22:45 PM
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Here's a little Christmas present for any of you into reading, writing, and conversations about either. Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore is now podcasting.
According to New West Network (via Neil Gaiman's blog:
Thanks to a new partnership between the legendary independent and a
local firm called BurstMarketing, podcasts are now being prepared with
Colorado readings from these and other big-name authors. The
collaboration, called Authors On Tour — Live!, will generate
free weekly weekly downloads featuring recently published authors
reading from and discussing their works while at the Tattered Cover.
The first of these 30-45 minute shows, with J.R. Moehringer, author of
the acclaimed memoir "The Tender Bar," an introduction by store owner Joyce Meskis, and thoughts by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, is available now.
In coming weeks, the program will be expanded to include podcasts with
(Al) Franken, Didion, Susanna Clarke, Robert Hicks, Neil Gaiman, Lemony
Snicket, Clive Barker, Andrew Weil, Monty Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, Dan
Savage, Zadie Smith, Michael Connelly, and others.
I'm subscribed. Sounds exciting.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Christmas Storytime
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 12/24/2005 12:00:00 AM
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It's the day before Christmas in my neck of the woods, which means that tonight is the night before Christmas. Thanks, Lisa and Rowan, for the reading.
Merry Christmas, y'all.
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TITLE: Christmas Storytime
URL: http://www.freshpodcasts.org/christmas_storytime-archive.html
IP: 84.181.10.43
BLOG NAME: Fresh Podcasts
DATE: 12/24/2005 08:13:27 AM
[Source: Bud the Teacher] quoted: It's the day before Christmas in my neck of the woods, which means that tonight is the night before Christmas.Thanks, Lisa and Rowan, for the reading.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: My Last Newspaper Column (For Now)
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Coloradoan
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 12/22/2005 10:40:19 PM
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A couple of weeks ago, I submitted my final newspaper column for the time being. The newspaper is going to replace me with student writers, which is quite fine with me. I'm a writing teacher -- I love it when kids have something to say AND a place to say it. The local newspaper is a great forum for students. That said, though -- if you need a weekly newspaper columnist, let me know. I work cheap.
Anyway, here's the last piece. Hope you enjoy it.
_________________
When I was
in high school, my father wrote me a letter out of the blue.
It was a short piece, a one-page
note about the excitement of the “adventure” that I was on (I was on a church
mission trip at the time, and was not told where we would be going or what we
would be doing until we arrived.). My
mother also wrote a letter, making for quite a special moment when I opened the
“care package” from home.
I still
have the letters in a box of treasures that I’ve kept from my childhood. I’ll always have them, because the words are
permanent, forever there on the paper for me to read and reread whenever I need
a reminder of that special time. I also
keep a collection of the letters and cards my wife has written for me. They are in a special place where I can reach
them whenever I want a reminder of special moments.
Writing is
a way to make a mark on the world and on the people and issues that we care
about. We write to share our
experiences, our questions, and ourselves. At school, we teach students the conventions of writing so that they can
communicate their thoughts, ideas, questions and experiences with whomever they
choose to share them.
December being
a month of gifts and giving, there is no better time to share your writing with
the people who are important to you. Here are a few prompts that you might use to complete a writing project for
someone special this holiday. Sit down
and try to get some writing done. You
might choose a night as a family to sit down together and write presents for
each other this year, or for family members in faraway places that can’t be
with you. Remember to use all of your
senses in your writing – each sense of taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight
can bring something special and memorable to your essays, stories, letters and
poems.
- Write about how your family spends the holidays. Who or what makes that time together special? What unique family traditions do you have? Ask someone who knows how they might have gotten started and write down what they tell you.
- Think about the places that you travel during this time of year. Who do you travel with? Where do you go? How do you get there? Have any crazy things happened during your travels?
- In many families, holidays involve some pretty important shared meals. Write about a family meal that you remember as being exceptionally good or special or downright unusual. Was it the quality of the food? A special family dish or treat? Smells or tastes? Who was there to share the meal with you? What made it such a special or strange occasion?
- Put all of the names of your family members into a hat. Ask each family member to draw one name. Write about the family member that you’ve picked. What makes them unique or special in your family? What would you like to tell them that you’ve never had the time to say or share? Is there a special memory that you have that you would like to get down on paper? Take an hour as a family to write about each other.
Whatever topic you choose to write about, make sure that you
share your writing with your family. You
can publish in a variety of ways:
- Send out the best family writing in a holiday letter or card.
- Box and wrap special pieces and give them as gifts.
- Post all the writing on a family website. Share the website with friends and family all over the world.
- Type up the good stuff, frame it, and hang it somewhere around the house where
you will see it regularly.
- Set aside a corner of the fridge for your writing. Take turns being the “featured author” at home.
Take the time to write with your family. You will truly treasure the stories and
experiences that you have to share with one another.
Bud Hunt is on the board of the
Colorado State University Writing Project, teaches at
Olde Columbine High School in Longmont, Colorado, and blogs at www.budtheteacher.com. Send e-mail to budtheteacher@gmail.com
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL:
DATE: 12/23/2005 12:34:56 PM
What great ideas, Bud!
I am glad that student writers will have a chance to be published, but I will miss reading your columns. I bet others will, too!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: My Dream Blogger
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Writing
DATE: 12/22/2005 10:36:49 PM
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Dana posted recently, asking folks who their dream bloggers might be:
Who would you like to see start blogging?
I would love to see Jim Burke and Carol Jago
start blogging. Both have contributed so much interesting dialogue to
the field of English Education that I can't see how they can fail to be
excellent bloggers. Of course, there is that sticky problem of how much
time they already devote to their careers...
I followed the question into the comments and saw that someone had suggested Stephen King. I pondered who I might like to see blogging and one name popped into my head almost immediately: Robert Fulghum.
Robert Fulghum was the writer that taught me that writers write because they'd like to have a conversation with you. Writers write because they want to come into your home, sit with you, share a story, and then leave to think about what you talked about. I love to read the man because I've always thought he seemed to so honestly tackle the topics he writes about.
I could be dead wrong, but let me have my moment, okay?
To get back to the matter at hand -- I thought that I'd love to read a blog by Fulghum, so I did a quick search to see if he had one.
He kind of does -- albeit one without RSS. But he's worth visiting every now and again, just to check in. The discovery was a nice surprise.
Who else is worth checking in on from time to time?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: More on Dates
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 12/22/2005 10:19:16 PM
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Lots of responses to yesterday's post. Kipling asks:
. . . why is the teaching and testing of dates so highly prized in schools?
It's a good question. My hunch, and it's only a hunch, is that dates, like other right or wrong factoids, are much easier to test and assess. Implications, context, hypotheses, and lines of thinking are really hard to put into a box that you can use a computer to score.
Also, how do you put a point measure on a student's thinking? That's a question that's bigger than a blog post, and I'm not sure if I'm really asking it here (I have some provisional answers, as I must in order to do my job, but I don't know if we want to have that conversation so close to the holidays. But, hey, it's out there. Go for it, if you feel like responding.).
It's much easier for a school to tell you that your son is failing because he doesn't know his facts, which are objectively markable, than it is then to tell you that your son is failing because his thinking is poor. That's subjective and tricky. Might even require a professional.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 70.33.42.116
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 12/23/2005 10:27:34 PM
Doug, you got my point. Dead on.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Noon
EMAIL:
IP: 10.73.155.235
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/dwnoon/
DATE: 12/23/2005 11:41:24 AM
I'm in complete agreement, and wondering if you were being ironic saying, "Might even require a professional." The professionalism of teachers is not sufficiently respected, so we depend on crude measures like test scores to justify our observations.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: grayciegraycie
EMAIL: rwcaa@infionline.net
IP: 4.248.229.172
URL:
DATE: 12/23/2005 10:20:08 AM
You are exactly right. As a teacher of English, I run into this mentality all of the time. So much of what is valuable in my field is NOT measurable by computer-scored test styles (even though my state tries to assess writing ability with multiple choice questions). The depth and relevance of literature and the ability to perceive and respond to it (read 'thinking well') has become lost as a realistic outcome of school. Measurability of instruction by standardized test items has bled the humanities to death.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: When do you NEED to know a date?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/21/2005 11:06:22 AM
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Eric joined the brainstormers on EdTechTalk's last brainstorm of the year, and, boy, did he stir up some trouble. I think Eric's a pretty smart guy, and I enjoyed hearing him in the conversation. He was talking about how students knowing a specific date is less important to him than knowing the sequence of historical events and how they influence each other and future events. (That's not quite right -- listen to the podcast. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think that's the gist of his position.) He writes:
I hope many of you have used the link on my blog roll to visit Ed Tech Talk - if not please check it out - great discussions going on by people all over the world about education and technology. This past Saturday I joined their show via conference call and at some point during our conversation the question can up about how much a history teacher should stress that students know the specific date of major history events and how it compares with the importance of knowing the context of the event. I mentioned that I was not as concerned about my students knowing if the Boston Massacre happened in 1770 or 1771 as much as I was concerned that they understood the event and its importance in relationship to other events. Others listening to the show entered the discussion and it became quite a debate.
Some of the others in the conversation were pretty, um, unhappy with the idea that dates were given second position. I really, really, wish I'd have been able to join that discussion -- I was talking back to the podcast today in the car -- always a good sign of engaging stuff. To be fair, I haven't quite finished listening to the podcast -- the brainstorms regularly run two hours or so now -- but I did want to chime in. Nobody asked me, but, hey -- I've got this blog -- might as well use it.
I think that the events, the sequence, and a general understanding of the date is good enough for students in most settings. Eric works with 8th graders -- I'd be ecstatic if my high school students could discuss the implications of an event like the Boston Massacre. I don't need them to provide the date, though, to have a meaningful discussion with them about the event. However, I would mark a student down on an assignment if they cited an incorrect date. I think we should push students and teachers to be as accurate as possible with the information they use.
If a student doesn't know a particular date, they should respond with a time range, instead of making up a wrong date and "citing" that as fact. Wrong is wrong, even on minor points. That said, I wouldn't even ask a question that required a specific date as an answer, because I'd be much more interested in implications or context than I would be in recitation. Students (and teachers) have a multitude of reference materials available to them whenever they need to access specific information like dates.
As Dave said in the podcast, memorizing information has its place. I think people should know and remember their times tables. It's handy to know how many feet are in a mile if you're an engineer.
I like to memorize really good poems -- although I'm not very good at it. I can always look up a poem if I want to share it with someone. Here's a good poem. Carl Sandburg wrote "Grass" about war. He references specific battle sites -- and makes a bold statement about war and its implications. It's short, simple and to the point.
Should he lose points for not referencing specific dates?
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AUTHOR: John (one of the "cranky old people")
EMAIL: barbarasawhill@gmail.com
IP: 216.207.246.102
URL:
DATE: 12/23/2005 08:10:32 AM
The argument devolved into an either/or conversation when in fact, the cranky old people were arguing that BOTH are essential - to know the date, i.e. the year in which the event occurred as the placeholder for the context. Each is equally important and knowing both leads to a keen and sharp understanding of history. One of the real jobs of a grade and high school teachers has been to teach young minds how to think. Part of thinking is knowing important information to support an argument or understand a context. Dates are a part of the exercise of thinking and understanding. Unfortunately, the response by too many teachers to this point reveals the major problem in pubic education, which is the tendency to teach to the middle. Too often, in public schools, teachers settle for "adequate" education. Whereas, excellence in education is thought impossible except perhaps for those corralled into "gifted and talented" programs. If we are training youngsters to think critically and carefully in preparation for college then dates are as important as context. It is not unreasonable to hold kids to the highest of standards, which means understanding the context of course, but also the year in which the event happened. If you don't agree with that, then we can echo the product of this type of pedagogy, "Whateverrrr"
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jimtchr@gmail.com
IP: 209.79.69.225
URL: http://classroombiz.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/22/2005 11:08:44 AM
"So then the question arises, why is the teaching and testing of dates so highly prized in schools?"
[Begin Cranky Old Man Voice] Because that's the way it was when I went to school! If it worked then, why not now? [End Cranky Old Man Voice]
I think it's basically a matter of habit, and that's really unfortunate. The rote memorization of names and dates has turned off so many people to the examination of history that we're the red-headed stepchild of the curriculum (apologies to any red-headed stepchildren reading this). There used to be so much focus on the when of history that the what was ignored or glossed over.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kipling
EMAIL:
IP: 61.86.42.70
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/kipling/
DATE: 12/22/2005 05:04:23 AM
The French author and philosopher Montaigne would agree with Eric, I think. "Montaigne was preoccupied with the training of judgment. He would have history learned so that facts have contexts and historical judgment a bearing on contemporary affairs; he was intrigued by the possibilities of emulation, as were all the classical masters, and so informs us. He said we need to see the difference between teaching "where Marcellus died," which is unimportant, and teaching "why it was unworthy of his duty that he died there," which has great significance. For Montaigne, learning to judge well and speak well is where education resides..."
(Underground History of American Education Ch 1, p.19)
It seems few would disagree. So then the question arises, why is the teaching and testing of dates so highly prized in schools?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mike Hetherington
EMAIL: mhetherington@hwporter.org
IP: 68.9.93.47
URL: http://room613talk05.edublogs.org
DATE: 12/21/2005 08:21:17 PM
Bud, you were not the only one talking back to that podcast. I also listened to part of the discussion on the way to school and wanted to pull off to the side of the road and add my 2 cents in right there, but I was a week too late for that!
I teach social studies, and for the most part I agreed with Eric. Understanding the details of an important event and its effect on human history is primarily what I'm looking for as a teacher. If a 6th grader knows the sequence of related events and the location of the subject event in that sequence, and understands the importance of the event in the overall context, I'm very happy. However, I also expect the students to place the event with reasonable accuracy on a timeline. Some dates should be known to the day due to their importance. In American history, July 4, 1776 and Dec. 7, 1941 should be known to the day, the latter to the hour. But for me, it's also acceptable for 6th graders if they know that the Battle of Gettysburg took place in early July 1863(month accuracy), or that Columbus sailed to America in 1492(year accuracy), or that The Roman Empire fell in the 400's AD(century accuracy). To understand the significance of an event and its effect on history, it IS necessary to place the event in the proper era, but an exact date is not always necessary. In this age of instant availability of information, an accurate "mental timeline" populated with the date ranges of major events is still very valuable, and allows a person to synthesis new information into that mental set. As for the exact dates of long ago events (the last day in power for the last Roman emperor - September 4,476), you can always Google for that.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.60.208
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/21/2005 04:28:28 PM
5280'
And I'm no engineer.
I think one of the most valuable lessons I learned in high school was from my trig teacher, when he said, "Don't memorize all these formulas; if you ever need them you can look them up." The implication that they would be useless without the understanding to actually use them went unmentioned.
I think it's the same with dates. It's increasingly easy to verify the date of an event. Understanding the signifigance of that event is what matters.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.20.2.132
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 12/21/2005 02:34:13 PM
I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than listen to a recording of a debate over the importance of memorizing dates, but that's just me.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL:
IP: 68.219.131.92
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 12/21/2005 12:54:24 PM
I agree with you Bud. I have been a grader for the SAT essay, and we were told to ignore errors like this, but it sticks under my craw. Something like a date is so easy to check. If students are writing a paper, they DO need to be as accurate as possible, and not to hold them accountable for accuracy opens them up to all kinds of criticism in college. On the other hand, if we are having a class discussion, and the student can't remember the precise date offhand, it would not be as big an issue. It would be nice if they didn't think the Civil Rights movement ended slavery, but I digress.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jimtchr@gmail.com
IP: 69.234.59.142
URL: http://classroombiz.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/21/2005 12:11:24 PM
I'm with Eric on this one. I teach 7th and 8th grade history, and it's more important to me that students understand the cause/effect/cause relationships in events than be able to spit back an exact date. Instead, a general idea as to when events occured, in order to put the relationships in correct order, is what I go for. As Eric said (I read his blog post, but didn't listen to the podcast, either), if they can place the Boston Massacre in the early 1770s and describe the events that lead to and follow it, that's good enough. At least, for now. We can always go for date memorization later.
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TITLE: Bud the Teacher: When do you NEED to know a date?
URL: http://whatbird.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/12/bud_the_teacher.html
IP: 204.9.178.8
BLOG NAME: whatbird
DATE: 01/14/2006 07:28:01 PM
Link: . Speaking of dates; my daughter asked my grandson after a long day at school if he had gotten any red tickets. His answer: I don't know Mom, the days just run together. (He's age 6. Even the little
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: TMBG Podcast
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 12/18/2005 10:44:55 PM
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I was doing some house cleaning tonight, and wanted something non-too heavy for listening. I discovered that They Might Be Giants are now podcasting. Well worth a listen -- their first podcast features several songs, including a re-visioning of "Particle Man" that sounds very Beatles-esque.
Man, that sounded way cooler in my head than it does in print, but, if you're a fan of TMBG, then it'll make sense.
If you're not, you'll get a real flavor of the band in the podcast.
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AUTHOR: Mr. Me
EMAIL: info@theynow.com
IP: 12.37.57.254
URL: http://theynow.com
DATE: 01/09/2006 08:53:41 AM
Fans of the Giants will also likely enjoy the fan-based audioblog / podcast found at Theynow.com!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.56
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 01/04/2006 07:32:45 AM
Oh my.
I distinctly remember it being early spring, 1994. I received my TMBG newsletter. They had just started a thing called a "listserve" where you could send an email to an address and be hooked up with hundreds of other TMBG fans to talk about their music. I dropped everything, ran back to the computer lab at the university, and that was the start of something interesting. It gave me a good reason to check my email daily. No kidding, I could point you to the specific computer I used to register that day.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE:
STATUS: Draft
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DATE: 12/18/2005 07:33:59 AM
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There's nothing like a few minutes on an early morning when I've got the house to myself. The ladies in my life are all still sleeping, and I've got a little bit of time for quiet thinking and reflection. Here're are a few of the things I've been thinking about over this busy pre-holiday weekend.
I've just processed seventy-five entries for the Colorado Language Arts Society's High School Writing Contest. I'm looking forward to screening those and sending the best on to our judges.
Will put together an intersting collection of ideas for modernizing writing conferences. Tom replyed that many of them seemed pretty geeky, and "not transformative." While I like the brainstorming that Will was trying to accomplish with his post, I think I agree with Tom in the comments to the post. Many of Will's ideas are too impractical for a writing classroom wheere I'm responsible for conferencing regularly with twenty-five students. (And I know that I'm lucky to only have twenty-five or so in my classes. Many high school language arts teachers have thirty or more.) This is the idea that is the gem out of Will's brainstorm:
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Typepad Stole my Voicebox
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/17/2005 02:38:07 PM
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Typepad went down earlier this week. It's all better now, but I was without the ability to publish for a while. In addition, an older version of my blog was what visitors saw if they stopped by recently.
For all intents and purposes, I was unable to tell anyone. I lost my voice, and that didn't feel very good. What a weird feeling.
It's all better now, but how weird to feel like a broken computer had taken away my ability to speak. Have I been spoiled by how easy blogging can be, how easy it is to "talk" to everybody?
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AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.63.72
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/17/2005 05:57:12 PM
Not weird at all. My voice may be drifting toward things more mundane than education, but I share your reliance on the blog to see what friends are up to, and to share with them my world.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Haven't we been saying this?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 12/16/2005 12:27:54 AM
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From the "We've Been Saying This for a While" Department:
Whatever the specifics
of these cases, it's clear that at a time when 19 percent of online
teens keep a blog -- 4 million teens in all -- schools need to
establish consistent blogging guidelines and give students remedial
education on the pitfalls of this new technology. Adults have learned
via cases of identity theft and the embarrassment of accidentally
misaddressed e-mails the need to vigilantly protect your privacy.
Having grown up with the Net, kids are so comfy with it, they regard it
as an old friend. They have developed such a false sense of security in
it that, unmindful of all the sick prying eyes out there -- and without
telling their parents -- they post pictures of themselves, along with
phone numbers and addresses.
As much as we respect
our kids' privacy, those rights go only so far. As angrily opposed to
having their onscreen browsings monitored as they may be, teens need to
know those feelings have to come second to efforts to keep them safe
from Internet lowlifes -- and prevent them from recklessly causing
distress to others.
Of course we need to do teach guidelines and safety. It's refreshing to hear someone else saying so for a change.
I am troubled, though, that students' speech outside of the classroom has the potential to get them suspended from school. I guess in many ways this is like the adult world -- I could lose my job, for example, if I were using this blog inappropriately.
But can and should students face severe penalties for their reading habits? How about their choice of adjectives used when describing a school or teacher they don't care for? How about when they disagree with a controversial position taken by a teacher? (Mr. Neck from Speak is going through my mind as I write this.) At what point are students allowed to disagree, have controversial opinions, or downright trash talk?
As we move towards putting more and more content and conversation online, are our classrooms encompassing the entire Internet? Is there nowhere online a student will be able to go and speak his or her mind? (Am I overreacting? Possibly.)
I'm certainly not saying we shouldn't pay attention to what our students are doing online. We've recently made some uncomfortable discoveries at school, stuff that shocked and concerned me. But should the immediate response to such be punishment? That seems to be the knee jerk reaction.
I don't think punishment should be the immediate response. Conversation, though, definitely.
I mentioned in a podcast recently that I don't like it that students are using their MySpace accounts to share the frequency with which they get high or engage in sexual activity -- but I recognize that they have the right to share that information, if they so choose. I want them to understand, though, how such information can create a image that might not be desirable.
As Thursday was Bill of Rights Day, I am reminded of the value of a right to free speech, and just how easy excuses are to find to deprive students of their rights. How free are students in this new online world if their words will come back to get them when adults who do not care for what our students have to say and have the power to do something about it get involved?
How free will any of us be?
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AUTHOR: Brian
EMAIL:
IP: 70.183.17.178
URL: http://educatorlink.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/22/2005 05:16:12 PM
Another concern that I have not yet seen addressed regarding this topic is the damage that students can do to their futures by posting some of the things that they do. Things that they may think are "cool" to post now can come back to haunt them in the future. With companies like Google and services like the Internet Wayback Machine, just about everything posted is archived somewhere. I wonder when the first Presidential election will be hit with a "He posted that he smoked pot on Myspace in 2005" type scandal. It will happen as soon as the current generation hist 35.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.87.132
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 12/17/2005 01:07:24 PM
I think the two words are appropriate and intentionally used. I was shocked completely by some of what I saw and, while not surprised, concerned about what I saw happening at my own school.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Fritz
EMAIL: richard@masoner.net
IP: 199.45.160.5
URL: http://www.cyclelicio.us/
DATE: 12/17/2005 11:59:20 AM
"shock" and "concern" seem, I don't know, somehow contraposed. Not quite mutually exclusive, but they don't quite seem to go together either.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki Spam
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 12/13/2005 09:53:08 PM
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I got my first wiki spam today. I'd tell you more, but I don't want the wiki terrorists to win. Needless to say, all's well on the wiki now.
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AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.56
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 12/14/2005 06:52:32 AM
Your's lasted just about as long as mine (http://pedersondesigns.com/wiki) did. I'd correct, get spammed, correct, get spammed, etc. Then Doug Johnson wrote the URL into an article for TechLearning magazine. I felt I had to protect the page in order to not look stupid.
Incredibly powerful tools, but still very young.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Some Thoughts in a Rental
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 12/12/2005 08:27:25 PM
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Tonight's podcast is about my recent accident, specifically a connection that I see between safety on the road and safety on the Internet. Also, I'm clarifying some of my recent posts and the comments I received. Can we build a better MySpace? Have we already done so? Should we bother?
Links from the Show:
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AUTHOR: dave cor-me-(a)
EMAIL: cormier@edactive.com
IP: 24.137.102.96
URL: http://davecormier.com/edblog
DATE: 12/13/2005 08:22:40 AM
I'm doing my best to stay out of that debate... my hope is that 'leadership' will rule the day. That is, the students will look to their teachers, to the way they write, and emulate the morals and mores that invitably will show up there. It's the same thing that happens in the classroom, (and the same thing for you with your little girl) they learn from what we do...
I don't think I'm as easily offended by the 'drinking/sex' online discussion, but I see your point. Truth is, for most young people these are the only 'rights of passage' that our culture has left them. I suppose, in a sense, publishing could be another one... but with sports, computer games, music etc for the most part being not quite connected to the better angels of our culture, what else are they going to talk about. How else can they prove themselves to each other? And, more importantly, how can they prove they belong?
Look at 'frosh week' at most universities. Many of them end up being drinking fests... and why? To prove the ability to belong to the group... it's a right of passage. We need to create better ones. and quickly. maybe the work we are all doing will be that in time, but who knows?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I like airbags -- A non-blogging journal entry
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/11/2005 10:00:35 PM
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It snowed here on Tuesday. White powder drifted down upon us for most of the morning and afternoon. Downright beautiful, if you ask me.
I took extra caution coming home on Tuesday evening, and arrived home late, but in great shape. I've driven on Colorado winter roads since I learned how to drive, and will continue to do so as long as I live here.
Wednesday morning, as I left Ani at her grandparents' house, I made sure to take extra time and to leave extra space between me and the other cars. I turned onto the main road outside of the subdivision, and I made my way towards the school.
Until I slid left, recovered, slid right, recovered partially, and slid directly into the 10 foot ditch/dry creek bed/rock-filled hidey hole by the side of the road. My speed never hit 20 miles an hour.
Both airbags deployed (did I mention I love airbags?), I was a bit jostled, but I walked away from the accident, the only marks on my body a small abrasion on my forehead, another, matching one at my scalp line, and a big coffee stain on my pants from the spill of my ginormous thermos-mug filled to the brim with coffee that opened during the crash. The doctor confirmed that my mind was as good as it ever was, and that I suffered no long-term damage. (As an aside -- did you know that one of the first indicators of neurological damage is the loss of the sense of smell? I didn't -- until the alcohol swab and the cinnamon Altoids were shoved under my nose. All good.) I'm a little sore this weekend, though.
The car is completely totaled. All gone. Bye-bye. It landed rather on its front end, the giant rocks underneath crippling the engine. It was fifteen months old. But, hey. It's just a car. Metal and glass and whatnot.
I'm okay. Even put up Christmas lights on the house for the first time in my life. And hugged my daughter. A lot.
Back to work.
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AUTHOR: Eric Langhorst
EMAIL: speakingofhistory@gmail.com
IP: 65.30.49.220
URL: http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/14/2005 08:58:59 PM
Great to hear you are OK. We had two days off from school last week due to snow here in Kansas City.
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 71.81.59.59
URL:
DATE: 12/14/2005 06:54:26 PM
It is scary how fast stuff like that can happen! I am glad you are OK.
My husband just came back from a trip north and drove through a snowstorm. It has been a long time since we have lived in the stuff. His last experience didn't make him eager to try it again, either!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Will R.
EMAIL: weblogged@gmail.com
IP: 68.38.10.31
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 12/14/2005 06:21:16 PM
I meant to say this earlier, but glad to hear you're ok.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/12/2005 07:48:41 PM
I always like happy endings.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: graycie
EMAIL: rwcaa@infionline.net
IP: 4.248.226.187
URL:
DATE: 12/12/2005 04:35:00 PM
Scary stuff. Glad you're okay.
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AUTHOR: Sean
EMAIL: techmonk@mac.com
IP: 66.37.82.65
URL: http://seans.typepad.com
DATE: 12/12/2005 03:17:47 PM
Bud--So glad to know you're ok. Those kind of crashes can bruise the insides more than the body. Glad you hugged your daughter. A lot. Cheers ~
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 205.200.110.54
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/12/2005 02:18:07 PM
Thank g-d you're ok! Take care of yourself old man. Like everyone else, I think the best medicine is the hugs from your wife and daughter. Merry Christmas -- thinking of you.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 207.161.78.10
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 12/12/2005 08:21:20 AM
Not a great way to begin the Christmas season. But in a way, I suppose, it is a reminder for all of us of what is truly important in this season.
Take care.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anne_Davis
EMAIL: adavis@gsu.edu
IP: 24.99.172.127
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com
DATE: 12/12/2005 07:30:58 AM
I am so glad you are OK. Keep on hugging your daughter - best medicine in the world!
I keep wanting to get your advice on my high school groups and intend to write - these guys have touched my heart but I'm in unknown territory!
Meanwhile, let's kick back and enjoy those pretty Christmas lights. You take care....
Best to you.
Anne
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Puja
EMAIL:
IP: 61.109.211.205
URL:
DATE: 12/12/2005 06:51:16 AM
Congrats on the easy-to-read writing style and excellent-simple page design.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Coach Brown
EMAIL: teacher@coachbrown.net
IP: 71.131.102.55
URL: http://ukiahcoachbrown.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/11/2005 11:02:27 PM
Glad you are doing alright. It is truely amazing that life could change that quick if the circumstances are different.
My best to your health.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Chris Lehmann
EMAIL: chris@practicaltheory.org
IP: 66.65.51.14
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/ChrisNYC/
DATE: 12/11/2005 10:34:06 PM
Bud,
Just glad you're o.k. -- and yeah, hugging your daughter is probably the best medicine.
That and advil.
-- Chris
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TITLE: Blogging family
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com/2005/12/13#a4775
IP: 206.117.44.181
BLOG NAME: EduBlog Insights
DATE: 12/13/2005 07:44:20 AM
Bud's post about his accident really made me pause and think.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Could we Compete with MySpace?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 12/05/2005 11:52:15 PM
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I spent some time today working through the BusinessWeek article about MySpace. (Don't tell anyone -- I was reading the print edition -- not the online one. I still have a thing for tangible print because my computer is just so darn hard to fold.)
Others have discussed the marketing uses of social networks, as well as the potential dangers of such. (Heck, I've mentioned the dangers. More than once.) what I'm beginning to think about, and I think it's partly Miguel's doing, is the idea that maybe we could build a public social network of schools, one that is built around many of the values about safety and learning and collaborative learning that we all share.
James is going to get to work on the advocacy issues around filtering -- but I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to create the type of network that we'd like to see students using in public, one less concerned with the number of times users have been drunk and more concerned with how many books users have read in the last month. How about a social network built around inquiry and the idea that asking questions, and discovering answers, is good for society?
What about a network built around the idea that young people have power and voice, particularly when they choose to exercise their power responsibly (I know -- we'll all argue about what it means to be responsible.) and via a network that might serve as a bullhorn for their ideas?
Miguel has argued for the creation of such a network of schools that exists privately, away from the rest of the world. He calls it "Tlspace.org." (Teach and learn space.) But why not make such a network public? Wouldn't that be a positive step, particularly if we could help to protect the types of interactions that we find to be so valuable?
What other values might we like to see in such a network? How might we communicate those values in such a way as to compete with the popularity of the other networks out there? Who are the best folks to try to build such a thing? (My vote is for the guys who built Xanga and MySpace -- they know how to build these networks and they probably understand the safety and security issues better than any of the rest of us.) If a network can sell Coke, surely such a network can sell critical thinking. Right?
Is this a really bad idea?
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AUTHOR: Liz Ditz
EMAIL: ponytrax@batnet.com
IP: 71.141.149.19
URL: http://lizditz.typepad.com
DATE: 12/14/2005 06:30:57 AM
Glad you survived the accident intact.
I'm writing a series on MySpace, in part to counter the "Blogs are Dangerous for Teens! Film at 11!!!" coverage that blogging (conflated with MySpace) has been getting since, oh, the spring of 2005.
I was naive. I thought the series would take a few hours to bang out. Nearly a week's worth of work later I still have two big installments to go.
http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2005/12/new_communicati.html
I am beginning to think the deep attraction of MySpace for the 6th to 12th grade set is that it represents a sort of tribal community, away from the eyes of the adults.
I am also getting the sense that the popularity and pervasiveness of MySpace varies very widely by school, and within a school, by social grouping. (this in anecdote not data: one travelling soccer team (that is, not a school-based team) does almost all its off-field communication by MySpace and the parents and girls are irritated with the one member whose parents will not allow her to have a MySpace account.)
Look forward to getting to know you better.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Victoria Davis
EMAIL: coolcatteacher@gmail.com
IP: 216.212.238.113
URL: http://www.bloglines.com/blog/coolcatteacher
DATE: 12/07/2005 11:30:47 AM
My students are enjoying creating wikispaces to share and track information. Using the history, I can see anyone who has made changes and whether the changes they make are relevant and meaningful.
Also, I can lock out everyone who is not approproved to enter the space. The students are creating their own wikispaces to share notes and study for exams. I think it is so easy to use!
We are having a gap in the communication methods that our students use versus the communication methods that we as teachers are used to. It is time for us to communicate in methods that are relevant to students.
Discipline issues are as prevalent in the hallways as they are in the blogosphere. Just because students drop bookbags on each other's heads doesn't mean you get rid of lockers and hallways any more than you get rid of student blogging because some students abuse it.
I think many educators are waiting for the "quick fix" without just picking up and finding a technoogy that matches as closely as possible.
I'm impressed with many commenters here who are adapting present technology to meet the needs of educating students.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben Bleckley
EMAIL: benbleckley@gmail.com
IP: 129.82.186.247
URL: http://pedagogypractice.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/07/2005 08:37:27 AM
Bud, this reminded me of a website that has become a fad at CSU called "facebook." It's a lot like MySpace, except each college has a separate area. If I wanted to view information about a student at UNC, I'd have to "make them my friend" - which sends an e-mail to the student and asks them to confirm that they know me. People in the same school can view each other's profiles freely. If you know a person's name, you can also search for their profile and see some limited information if they are at another school. This seemed to deal with some security issues while keeping things somewhat public.
And I think you're right: if the discussion of the group is established, the context will dictate where further discussion would go.
The facebook place is creating a high school version now. You might want to check it out: www.facebook.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Richard
EMAIL:
IP: 67.180.149.32
URL: http://inside.sfuhs.org/kassblog
DATE: 12/07/2005 08:03:33 AM
I have managed a highly successful bulletin board just within my high school of 400 students. For three years, conversation was extremely active and ranged over all sorts of topics in a safe manner. Nearly all students were reading the forums and over half were posting. They created hundreds of topics and thousands of messages.
Recently, discussion on our bulletin board has all but ceased, coincident with the rise of mySpace and other social networking sites. Anecdotally, I find that students prefer spaces in which they can find their friends and freely talk about the things that are important to them, which often include topics with which adults are not comfortable. Therefore I have my doubts that a safe (i.e., moderated) online community could compete with an open (unmoderated) space, but I hope to be proven wrong one day.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/12/entry_758.htm
DATE: 12/06/2005 11:09:35 PM
Bud, I'm shocked. I fell out of my chair this morning and if I hadn't had other things to keep me busy, I would have commented sooner than midnight .
I'm going to have to reflect on what you've written, but I'd like to invite you to visit this entry on Mousing Around.
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/12/entry_758.htm
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 64.222.32.40
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 12/06/2005 10:27:56 AM
One question is the scope of your ambition. This is kind of like creating a chess club or marching band. Some kids will appreciate a safe, structured, challenging environment, some won't.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Art Gelwicks
EMAIL: art@webedtech.com
IP: 204.74.20.14
URL: http://www.webedtech.com
DATE: 12/06/2005 07:04:43 AM
If I remember correctly there was a network that was originally developed for defense and academia that was a wonderful environment for the sharing of ideas and information. Then the spectre of commercialism crept into the corners wove it's way into the very fabric of the network.
Can we create another environment ripe for the sharing of ideas and information and avoid the overrun of the barbarians at the gate? More than any time in computing history I believe the answer is yes. With the push for open source technology and formats, such a network could be created without governmental and commercial support over the existing infrastructure of the web. After all, if it can be done to share the music of bad boy bands, why can't it be done with curriculum and doctorial research?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@mac.com
IP: 66.41.88.131
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/06/2005 07:02:46 AM
The space Miguel is speaking about already exists to some extent at http://www.think.com
Oracle funds it, as it funds the ThinkQuest competitions. There is no outside advertising. It is a free, closed educational community where schools or classes can very easily build web pages, have email (external or only internal), work collaboratively, have discussion boards, polls, etc. It is an international site with schools from around the world participating. It has strong teacher controls. It has portals to other institutions, such as museums.
The only thing it doesn't have is an outside audience. I wonder at what age that would seriously affect students' motivation. Because these technologies are so new to my students, it would probably work fine for my fifth graders. However, much above that I suspect they would feel too constrained.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: EdTechTalk
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 12/05/2005 11:02:19 PM
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Had a great time talking with Bob Sprankle and the Worldbridges gang on Sunday morning. If you get a chance -- give it a listen.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Our Problem? Or someone else's
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 12/04/2005 12:59:29 AM
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I wish it weren't true -- but stuff like this will probably happen. What will we do when it does? We can stick our heads in the sand, block and ignore all the horrible things that happen outside of our classrooms, perhaps arguing that what students do on heir own time isn't our problem.
Or, we can face the fact that life is happening all around us, all of the time, and we should stand up and acknowledge that, like the educators who came before us have faced other, perhaps more serious, issues in the past.
Which side will you be on? Is it even that simple?
Wait -- do all educators typically deal with the real world in their classrooms?
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AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 64.222.32.40
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 12/06/2005 10:30:30 AM
Yeah, nothing to see here really. After the fact, kinda weird that a murderer has a blog, but not much of a relationship between the two.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Art Gelwicks
EMAIL: art@webedtech.com
IP: 204.74.20.14
URL: http://www.webedtech.com
DATE: 12/05/2005 02:13:13 PM
I have to agree with Ewan. Working five minutes from Lititz where this happened, it's truly not about the technology. To make this slightly more ironic though, Lititz is in the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country.
Blogs, even though public, aren't much different than the old journal with the little heart shaped lock on the front. (Not that I had one of those mind you.) The only difference here is that there's no lock at all. As educators, but moreso as responsible adults, we need to be aware of what the children and young adults in our care are doing and what they are thinking. It takes a village to raise a child and we are part of a global village.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ewan McIntosh
EMAIL: ewan.mcintosh@blueyonder.co.uk
IP: 81.80.55.12
URL: http://edu.blogs.com
DATE: 12/05/2005 08:13:38 AM
This has nothing to do with blogging, educational or otherwise. This is a murderer. If he didn't blog the media may find another thing to use: TV, Marilyn Manson... We can take notice of what is going on on blogs outside the classroom but nothing in his blog would hint at what he was going to do. It's got nothing to do with the tool. As always, it's the person behind the tool that has the problem.
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PING:
TITLE: Students Blogging
URL: http://www.huffenglish.com/blog/archives/2005/12/students_bloggi.html
IP: 72.19.244.186
BLOG NAME: HuffEnglish.com
DATE: 12/04/2005 10:14:12 PM
I recently wrote about students being suspended for blogging at a Catholic high school in New Jersey. It seems that the dangers inherent in student blogging have been a hot topic recently in the education blogosphere. Ed Wonk writes about...
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PING:
TITLE: Students Blogging
URL: http://www.huffenglish.com/blog/archives/2005/12/students_bloggi.html
IP: 72.19.244.186
BLOG NAME: HuffEnglish.com
DATE: 12/04/2005 10:13:40 PM
I recently wrote about students being suspended for blogging at a Catholic high school in New Jersey. It seems that the dangers inherent in student blogging have been a hot topic recently in the education blogosphere. Ed Wonk writes about...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Little Stuff
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Wikis
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 11/30/2005 10:52:29 PM
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Been a crazy week back after Thanksgiving. I've been busy with grading, writing a couple of assignments, catching up on the wiki relocation, and sharing a cold with my daughter. A few brief thoughts:
- I think the wiki's back up to speed -- perhaps a little better organized than last time, perhaps not. But I suspect that it will continue to grow. I hope so, at least. It's funny -- I know that several teachers have drawn ideas for their blogging policies from the wiki, but I'm still not sure what my final blogging policies will look like. Heck, that's why I started the wiki in the first place. Please, if you've found it to be useful, share the resources that you've created with the community -- we can only get better.
- One blogging teacher that's doing some neat stuff with blogging and podcasting is Paul Allison, a tech liaison with the NYCWP in New York City. His most recent podcast, a jog-cast (he's jogging while he talks -- I'm pretty impressed!) is a reflection on some recent trouble in his school's blogging program -- really relates to some of what we've been discussing in regards to safety and liability, etc. Worth a listen. (Paul -- I like your thinking -- but the video version of the jog-cast made me a little bit sick. Cool experiment, but a bit nauseating.) Paul's other recent videocasts took me right into the heart of the NWP Annual Meeting, which was a mice way to make a convention that I otherwise would have missed completely.
- The Red Cedar Writing Project helped me to catch some of the other happenings of the NCTE/NWP meetings. They got some interesting conversations started by simply walking up to someone with an iTalk/iPod combo and asking some questions. Thanks, Red Cedar. You know, it was the RCWP's presentation a year ago on digital portfolios at an NWP meeting that was one of the big pushes for me into blogging. Keep up the good work.
- It looks like we'll be getting our laptop lab in time for the next quarter. That's good news, because I didn't have access for my students to begin blogging regularly with them without those computers -- and that was getting frustrating. Look out, y'all -- I'll be pushing blogging in my Science Fiction course this year.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: MediaWiki
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 11/29/2005 10:22:29 PM
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Wes and Miguel were curious to know how I got going with MediaWiki. I wish I had a trick or two to share, but I really don't, other than this website. The documentation is really thorough and I had little trouble getting going -- I just followed the instructions and got it set up in an hour or two. Pretty smooth, actually. The biggest problem I had was getting my logo installed -- I'm not much for stylesheets and whatnot.
I'm slowly making progress on settling into my new wiki home. Darren's helped out by posting his and Miguel's parent contact vignettes. If you've got a mix/remix/re-remix or whatever of how such a conversation might go, please feel free to tinker away.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Where, O where?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/27/2005 03:46:29 PM
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I wonder whatever happened to Ed Tech Coast to Coast? Will we be hearing the show again anytime soon? Anyone else missing it?
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AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL:
IP: 4.241.48.227
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/EdWonk/
DATE: 12/04/2005 11:27:40 PM
They put something up on the 30th. :-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wesley Fryer
EMAIL: wesfryer@yahoo.com
IP: 24.255.76.190
URL: http://www.speedofcreativity.org
DATE: 11/28/2005 07:49:40 PM
Hey I'm definitely missing it! What is that slacker Tim Wilson up to these days anyway? Working at school, studying for his doctorate, or spending time with his family?! Someone needs to help him get his priorities in line and put out another EdTechCoasttoCoast podcast! ;-)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Announcing
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/27/2005 01:15:12 PM
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Bob Sprankle and I will be guests on next week's Ed Tech Talk. If you haven't given Ed Tech Talk or an Ed Tech Talk Brainstorm a listen, you're really missing out.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki Problem Resolved
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 11/27/2005 11:26:51 AM
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I've just installed MediaWiki on my site. I thought it would be a pain, but it wasn't. I'll be updating and transferring stuff from the old wiki to this one over the next couple of days. If you get bored, you're welcome to help.
Seems like there might be some new content headed this way. I hope so. Darren and Miguel have been remixing an interesting conversation. Just the sort of stuff the wiki is for.
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AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 11/28/2005 09:13:25 PM
Ditto on Wes' question.
And, hurry up, Bud! Darren and I can't wait to carry this conversation over into your living room!
Miguel Guhlin
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wesley Fryer
EMAIL: wesfryer@yahoo.com
IP: 24.255.76.190
URL: http://www.speedofcreativity.org
DATE: 11/28/2005 08:17:51 PM
Bud: What resources did you use after installing MediaWiki to get things configured? I have successfully installed it on Ubuntu 5.10 and now need to get things setup. I'd love to learn what you used to get going, and I am very encouraged that you didn't find the process too difficult! :-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wesley Fryer
EMAIL: wesfryer@yahoo.com
IP: 24.255.76.190
URL: http://www.speedofcreativity.org
DATE: 11/28/2005 08:17:25 PM
Bud: What resources did you use after installing MediaWiki to get things configured? I have successfully installed it on Ubuntu 5.10 and now need to get things setup. I'd love to learn what you used to get going, and I am very encouraged that you didn't find the process too difficult! :-)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Author Blogs
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/26/2005 07:21:42 PM
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Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak & Catalyst as well as other great books, has a Live Journal. She, like my wife, is a pastor's kid. I wonder what she thinks about Internet filtering.
I also wonder what other authors are lurking in an active way around the Internet. I know that Neil Gaiman, a favorite of many of my students, is a frequent poster on his site. Who else?
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AUTHOR: Kris
EMAIL: krisbordessa@yahoo.com
IP: 4.248.1.89
URL: http://greatsolutions.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/06/2005 03:48:23 PM
Is it fair to add myself? ;-)
There's a long list of author blogs here: http://www.internetwritingjournal.com/authorblogs/
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki Troubles
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 11/25/2005 10:34:23 PM
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My Jotspot wiki is too full. If I don't do something by next Wednesday, it will be deleted. Any ideas? (I know I could probably move it page by page to another free site -- but that sure seems time intensive. I also know that I could pay Jotspot to stay with them -- but I can't really afford yet another hosting fee. Jotspot has been really good to me -- I feed badly about leaving.)
Is there a way to automatically export one wiki to another? I've got room to host a MediaWiki build or something like that -- but I'm not sure how to move the data.
I'm really open to your ideas.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jeff Bradley
EMAIL: bradleyj@aaps.k12.mi.us
IP: 68.40.187.28
URL: http://myschoolonline.com/MI/IPSMrBradley
DATE: 11/26/2005 05:22:11 AM
I noticed you wiki was full a few days ago. One thing I do is I ask parents for funds. Usually someone will help me. If you have a weekly newsletter or a wish list, just ask. I send out weekly newsletters and parents help especailly since they know that it is in their childs best interest.
http://ipsbradley.blogspot.com/
I teach middle school.
Jeff
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Suggestion
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 11/25/2005 10:29:07 PM
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BODY:
John has a suggestion for those of us frustrated by our districts blocking blogs:
Looks like there are some filters that are putting the blanket over all
things in the edublogs realm. Check for yourself. Does http://www.edublogs.org
work at your place of work? If not, drop a line to your friendly
technology director or school administrator as ask “What’s up?” As a
guy with a bit of experience with these things, a) it usually starts
with the filter vendor pushing an update, not a direct decision by your
local IT gurus, and b) technically, it can easily be resolved. Your
policies and procedures may vary.
Speaking of John, he's had lots of good suggestions lately since I've been reading him. One from last weekend was:
Here’s a weekend activity. Suggest somebody different. Pull a link from
your aggregator that you think is worthy of a little more attention
from the rest of the edublogosphere. I’m looking for some new faces!
Here's a recommendation: Ben is about to be a student teacher here in Colorado. He's just begun blogging about his ideas and processes. While his blog is a new one, he's had some interesting ideas. Looking forward to more.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Teddy&Collins Inc
EMAIL: corporatediv@gmail.com
IP: 68.250.177.70
URL: http://www.iproxyplanet.info
DATE: 01/25/2008 04:19:08 PM
I like purple kool-aid on warm saturday afternoons
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: J Browning
EMAIL: linkbacks@gmail.com
IP: 68.250.177.70
URL: http://www.playboyproxy.com
DATE: 01/25/2008 04:16:52 PM
Interesting read. Thanks for this
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: OpenOffice Works for Me
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 11/25/2005 10:21:58 PM
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I bought a new laptop last week, and have been enjoying the extra speed and processing power, not to mention the extra battery life. (When did laptops become notebooks, anyway?)
I've got an old version of Microsoft Office that I could install on this machine -- but I figured the new machine was as good a chance as any to try out Open Office. I was curious and a bit doubtful about the ability of the software to seamlessly import and export Office file formats.
It took five minutes to install, and after another five, I think it's going to be okay. I had a bit of difficulty with some old PowerPoint files not quite converting -- one slide was mis-formatted. I can live with that.
I'll postpone installing the Microsoft stuff for a while. Anybody running into any trouble with Open Office?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL:
DATE: 11/29/2005 04:03:52 PM
Sorry to be so late on this, but I had to respond anyway! I have used nothing but Open Office for at least 2 years now. I love it! About the only problem I have ever had with it is remembering to save in the doc format when I want to send a document to someone who still uses Microsoft Word!
There are a few other little things that have driven me batty over the years, but most of them were things I didn't do often enough to ever learn how to do them easily. And most of them are things that have been fixed in more recent versions.
You are going to love it, Bud!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jim@misd.net
IP: 64.88.81.109
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff
DATE: 11/28/2005 06:51:46 AM
Bud,
I tried Open Office and it worked great. I did however switch over to Star Office from Sun Micro. It is free for educators and I have found it has worked fine so far. I am starting to think like Clarence, with the budget problems we are having why are we paying for MircoSoft Office. By time most of our students graduate Office will have changed 5 times so using it in the work place isn't the issue.
j
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 72.2.13.42
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 11/26/2005 07:15:18 AM
I use Open Office at home on my desktop machine because I refused to lay out the $ for Microsoft Office. I am not a power user of it by any stretch of the imagination (I still use my laptop for most of my work), but I have been very pleased with it. Its ability to import and export almost any type of file has been a great experience. It works. Its almost like using my Mac......;)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 11/25/2005 11:50:07 PM
OpenOffice is great...it's what I run on two Dell computers, not to mention the work laptop. Surprisingly, I haven't had to run MS Office at work once since I migrated to OpenOffice 2.0. The latest OO is great! Makes we wonder why we're spending so much money on MS Office when OpenOffice is available.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blocked Blogs -- Be a Part of Something
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 11/25/2005 05:13:43 PM
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James Farmer has weighed in on blocking, after his Edublogs service has begun to be blocked from schools. I echo James' feelings when he writes:
So howabout it, I want to be part of something that stands against
this ridiculous censorship in schools, that states clearly and
unequivocally that he most important thing is to teach people to swim and that can clearly and unequivocally say to these educational establishments that what they are doing is WRONG and STUPID.
Are you with me?
Please, stop by his site and let him know what you think. Will even took a break from his Thanksgiving blog vacation to mention the issue, as well as a couple of important links:
Decisions continue to be taken out of teachers hands. Make sure to read the comments after James' post. And D'Arcy Norman's post on the topic. No sense in once again getting into all the reasons why this is just wrongheaded, but it may be time to go on the offensive in more imaginative ways...
Gentlemen, I'm with you. But I don't have a clue about how to best proceed. What might an international effort to stop or change the nature of filtering look like? How might it be productive and still honor schools' (perceived or actual) needs to "protect students"? Is this really censorship, or are we just being persnickety?
In one comment to James' post, Judy Breck shares this gem:
Here in New York City this fall there is a big moot court competition
among 57 public high schools. The student attorneys are arguing about
what schools can/should do about blocking students from the Internet.
The case was created and the competion being judged by Fordham Law
School students. The whole project is of/for/by young people, with many
of the competitors 14-18 years old. You might be interested in looking
at the case materials here:
http://www.jrcnyc.org/mootCourtCase.05/case_documents.html
Why haven't I begun my thesis on this issue already?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@mac.com
IP: 24.118.246.111
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/25/2005 07:35:45 PM
Bud,
When you wrote, "How might it be productive and still honor schools' (perceived or actual) needs to "protect students"?" I immediately thought of "Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives" by George Lakoff.
Although the book is designed to help progressive understand how the conservatives have gotten so strong, and then teach the progressives how to reframe issues so that their arguments don't inadvertently end up supporting the conservatives, I found it helpful beyond that scope. It helps me start to understand how to reframe issues so that people with different values than my own can see the value of my arguments.
I need a lot more work before I master the are of reframing, but I know that we must reframe the issue in order for those who are filtering out of fear to hear us.
My first stab had to do with raising children prepared for the future, but that won't fly with the "strong father" values of the conservatives. Anyone out there who has read the book able to take a stab at how we should frame this?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Give a Listen
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/23/2005 09:33:06 PM
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Dean's latest podcast has really gotten me thinking. I enjoyed very much his first draft thinking on public vs. private education and what's published, what isn't, and what should or shouldn't be. More on this subject after the holiday, perhaps with a podcast of my own.
Enjoy Thanksgiving, American readers. Pardon my ignorance -- but are there any international holidays of note occuring this week?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Muriel Lobier
EMAIL: muriel.lobier@gmail.com
IP: 86.200.203.241
URL: http://www.alsoomse.com
DATE: 11/26/2005 12:22:10 AM
None over here in France. We're all working as usual.
Hope you had a nice Holiday and plenty of Turkey!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Graham Wegner
EMAIL: wegner@aapt.net.au
IP: 61.68.208.185
URL: http://gwegner.edublogs.org/
DATE: 11/24/2005 03:36:23 AM
Down under, it's business as usual - in fact, I have to give a presentation on Saturday morning at an Early Childhood expo on IWB's. Enjoy your turkey - probably just as well I'm not American, turkey meat is so dry - give me marinated kangaroo any day.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: November's Coloradoan Column
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Coloradoan
DATE: 11/19/2005 11:09:04 AM
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Here's my most recent column for the local paper. Hope it's useful. Are any of you participating in NaNoWriMo? I'd love to hear your stories. I thought about joining this year -- but my life is just too full. Besides - -I'm doing the nonfiction version of NaNoWriMo through this blog.
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So often at
school, one of the biggest challenges of teaching writing is not to help
students with the finer points of writing so much as it is to help them get
started actually writing. Once a student
has an idea that they care about, the writing comes easier, and we then have an
authentic reason to discuss writing with students.
That can be
tricky, though, as every student is just a little bit different. What is motivation for one is not always
motivation for all. To get all students
writing, and writing more, I need a really good hook, something to get everyone
started. The real world is no
different. Many people want to write,
but need a reason to do so. Luckily, the
month of November provides just such an opportunity, and it costs absolutely nothing.
National Novel Writing Month,
founded in 1999, is “a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought
fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and
effort involved,” according to the sponsoring group’s website. The group is expecting 60,000 participants
worldwide this year, all passionate people who want to get some writing
done.
Robin Dean is the regional
coordinator for NaNoWriMo 2005 for Fort Collins
. She says that about fifty Fort
Collins-area
residents are
participating in this year’s event. In
an e-mail, she told me that, “there is an astonishing diversity of backgrounds,
interests, and writing experience among people who attempt NaNoWriMo, which is
a big part of the fun.”
I discovered the event thanks to
one of my students, now graduated, when she began her first novel last
year. She’s at work on her second
now.
The whole goal of NaNoWriMo is that
every participant write a novel of at least 50,000 words. The group’s website consists of writing
resources, forums, a handy word counter progress bar, and a meeting place for
frustrated or excited writers to get together and discuss their work
together. “Winning” the contest means
that you make the monthly goal of 50,000 words. No prizes, no grades, and certainly no test scores.
It’s an English teacher’s dream. Do
I expect that every novel produced by participants in NaNoWriMo to be the
finest literary creation ever to see light of day? Of course not, and neither do the NaNoWriMo
organizers. However, seven participants have managed to find publishers for the
work they produced during previous years’ events.
But it’s not about that. It’s about taking time to write and about
practicing writing.
While classroom instruction in
writing should take time to focus on grammar and the details of writing well,
we also need to take time to honor the biggest reason that people write – their
passion for the subject and for the writing itself. NaNoWriMo encourages and focuses on passion,
and asks writers to let their minds and imaginations run wild through their
words. Punctuation can wait until the
second draft.
Too often, schools and teachers are
too focused on the details and teach the passion right out of students’
writing. When we do that, we fail.
It is not
too late to join in the fun, if you are feeling up to the challenge. Families might even want to try NaMoWriMo
together. The practice will be good for
everyone’s writing abilities. The group
has a page, called the Young Writers Program, set up for the under-18
crowd. It even features a weekly
vocabulary lesson along with other motivators for students.
Parents and students can use
NaMoWriMo and the resources available on their website as great writing
starters. Pick a topic and get started
writing today. You might even discover a
budding novelist lurking in your family. Wouldn’t that be something to be thankful for and to share around the
Thanksgiving table?
Bud Hunt is on the board of the
Colorado State University Writing Project, teaches in Longmont
and blogs at www.budtheteacher.com.
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AUTHOR: Ben Bleckley
EMAIL: benbleckley@gmail.com
IP: 67.190.26.178
URL: http://pedagogypractice.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/19/2005 04:45:14 PM
Bud,
My brother is actually doing this. He's a senior in high school right now and stays up 'til midnight every night to get in the 1650/day requirement. I'm extremely jealous of him, he's a genius. Just applied to MIT.
Professor O'Donnell-Allen said something about a report from the National Writing Commission (or something that sounds similarly authoritative) that said students need to write twice as much in school as they do now. I think it was published a few years ago, but certainly still pertinent today - and a great reason for students to blog in the classroom.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL:
IP: 68.211.228.41
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 11/19/2005 02:35:46 PM
I don't know, Bud. I haven't written about NaNoWriMo in any of my blogs, because I have a reader -- a nice person -- who is participating. What I wanted to say about is that I'm not sure I get it. I am glad that people are willing to give writing a shot, but it goes against my grain to force it out in one month and to refrain from revising. And the word count, or quantity is the thing, not quality. I guess maybe I just don't get it or something. I haven't ever participated. I have two very small children, and keeping up with school is all I can do. I wrote a novel a few years ago. It sits languishing on my computer in MS Word. I really need to do something with it, but even pitching something like that takes time.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Long Distance Conferencing
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/18/2005 03:38:23 PM
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I'm missing out on two conferences that I usually attend -- the NCTE Fall Convention and the NWP Fall Meeting. Luckily, I'm able to get a feel for what's going on thanks to the bloggers attending in my stead. I'm blogging what I find over at our CSUWP blog so that I can keep others up to date on all the good stuff we're missing.
To any NCTE or NWP bloggers stopping by here this weekend -- thanks for your work. Keep those updates coming.
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AUTHOR: Robert
EMAIL: shimoli1718@yahoo.com
IP: 122.2.32.135
URL:
DATE: 05/04/2007 03:17:57 AM
Hi, let me share to you this article about headset and web conferencing.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL:
IP: 68.211.228.41
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 11/19/2005 02:39:02 PM
I wish I was going to NCTE this year, too. My principal suggested I ask again next year. Guess it just isn't in the budget, maybe. I did, however, submit an article to English Journal for the theme issue on Private, Parochial, and Independent Schools -- it's about a special project I do with Ben Franklin's autobiography at the Jewish school where I teach. Cross your fingers for me!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrea Z
EMAIL:
IP: 199.1.76.217
URL: http://www.redcedarwritingproject.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/19/2005 11:49:05 AM
We are with the Red Cedar Writing Project and we are blogging and podcasting and posting to a wiki from the conference. Check it out from www.redcedarwritingproject.blogspot.com
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Poetry Idol
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Poetry
DATE: 11/18/2005 12:13:06 PM
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Cool.
By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Endowment for the Arts and the publisher of Poetry Magazine have organized a national poetry reading competition for high school students, with the winner receiving a $20,000 college scholarship.
“There’s a twofold importance in a program like this,” Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
“One half is education; students come into contact with great poetry and language and learn it by heart. There’s also an equal, and often overlooked practical importance. It will improve the student’s command of language, and will provide much needed training for speaking in public. A student speaking well will do better in the job market and better in life.”
The program, co-sponsored by the NEA and the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation, was officially announced Thursday in Pittsburgh at the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Tuning In
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 11/17/2005 10:45:41 PM
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NPR is now pushing 194 podcast feeds. One that's particularly intriguing is the "Most E-Mailed Stories" feed. Each day, the folks over there edit together a collection of the stuff that others are recommending through e-mail. That's a neat way to select the "winner" stories. I like it because they have so much good programming -- and I have so little time.
Today's first story was amazing. Here's a snippet:
"If you saw me you'd never know I'd had a lobotomy," Dully says. "The
only thing you'd notice is that I'm very tall and weigh about 350
pounds. But I've always felt
different -- wondered if
something's missing from my soul. I have no memory of the operation,
and never had the courage to ask my family about it. So two years ago I
set out on a journey to learn everything I could about my lobotomy."
Breathtaking.
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AUTHOR: Jerram
EMAIL: jfroese@verizon.net
IP: 65.117.144.200
URL:
DATE: 11/18/2005 07:41:20 AM
I loved that story! One of the great things about NPR is the quality of the content and the things you learn each day that weren't even expected. I never knew I would be so intrigued by a lobotomy story.
Now, what if our students could take a standard podcast and turn it into a well produced piece like that of NPR? We certainly have the tools now-a-day...
jf
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Can you spare a minute?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/16/2005 11:19:10 PM
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Christian writes:
My topic is about teen-agers, blogging, and the degree to which it
affects their ability to write. I need high school teachers (and
undergraduate if applicable) to answer a short survey gathering their
observations on this subject. Unfortunately I only have about a week to
gather the data, so I am asking you to please consider doing so at your
earliest convenience and also contact any other such teachers you may
know and ask them to complete the survey. It would be very much
appreciated as my efforts to contact teachers have not been very
successful thus far, and the ones I have heard from were not particularly
versed in blogging technology.
Please send this to others you know who might be able to help. If you
have suggestions for reaching a number of teachers quickly, they would
also be very much appreciated. If you are interested in learning more
about this project, please let me know.
The survey may be found at http://varsity-nj.com/blogsurvey
Thank you,
Christian
Can you spare a minute or two to take his survey, if you fit his criteria. He'll share his info, if you're interested. Let me know.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: graycie
EMAIL: rwcaa@infionline.net
IP: 4.248.225.79
URL:
DATE: 11/17/2005 04:42:45 PM
I answered the survey.
I want to set up a class blog where kids can post writing and comment on each other's work. I'm having difficulty setting one up so that outsiders cannot comment. (My kids are high school freshmen, so Ihave to have control of that sort of thing in order to set it up.)
The main problem is that the mechanism for setting up a members-only site is very cumbersome, and requires an email address for each student -- but many of my kids don't have Internet access outside of school, and thus, no address. Any suggestions?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Hyperlocal Story
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 11/15/2005 11:41:04 PM
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Lisa Williams and her website are two of the reasons why we're trying our own attempt at hyperlocal journalism. Over at Pressthink, she wrote a great piece about why she does what she does. There's also a good chunk of history and process in the piece. Enjoy.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lisa Williams
EMAIL: lisa@cadence90.com
IP: 146.115.58.193
URL: http://h2otown.info
DATE: 11/29/2005 12:56:32 AM
oops, no inline urls...it's watertownmiddleschool.blogspot.com...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lisa Williams
EMAIL: lisa@cadence90.com
IP: 146.115.58.193
URL: http://h2otown.info
DATE: 11/29/2005 12:55:13 AM
Hey, Bud, how are you? I thought of you today when I found out that the local middle school where I live, in Watertown, now has a school newspaper via blog. Here it is. Cool!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: One More Try
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/15/2005 11:31:38 PM
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Miguel has written an article that formalizes some of his thinking on filtering and blogging and creating separate spaces for schools to use for creating learning networks. My applause to him -- it's getting published in a couple of places. In addition to being amazed by his ability to churn out a ton of good quality stuff on a regular basis, I think he does a really fine job of laying out the issues -- for the most part.
Here's the section I have the problem with (his text in blue, my comments in italics):
Unfortunately, most had not heard
of virtual spaces like MySpace.com. But after we discussed the
benefits, the question they had was, “Can we guarantee that
all
teachers will supervise students appropriately? Can we prevent
teachers from letting students use these resources
inappropriately?”
The answer, evident to all present, was “No.”
If you can't trust your teachers, don't you have a bigger problem than blogging in the classroom? Also, you can't prevent that all students will use their hands appropriately -- should you immobilize all children when they walk in the front door?
With that
conversation in mind, and as a result of a podcast posted by Bud the
Teacher where he challenges the idea of filtering out commercial
blogging sites, I have a few questions to ask as well:
- Do the benefits of access outweigh the dangers to
our children? A fair question -- and one I struggle with myself. Another one, just as important, is this: What are the real dangers? Not the perceived or extremely rare potential ones, but the actual, likely ones?
- What right do we have to expose children to danger
for educational purposes without parental consent? We don't. Who's advocating blogging without parental consent? I require permission slips before blogging begins. Our district also has an AUP in place.
- Do parents—who may be technology
illiterate—truly understand the dangers their children face
when they are turned loose on home computers? Another really good question -- but the same question can be asked of parents and literature that they haven't read that we're asking their kids to read. And, if it is the place of schools to ask this question, then shouldn't we also try to address the need for parents to be more technologically literate? Can we teach both the parents and the students?
- Even if these benefits outweigh the dangers, and
parents are complicit, can school district administrators and teachers
really choose to endanger children simply to teach them the art of
digital conversation and create personal learning
networks?
Why is blogging with students immediately equated with endangering children? I don't see how you get there.
As
a parent, I want to sign-off on any use of virtual spaces that my
sixth grader engages in. She is a budding flower, and like any dad,
I'm worried and want to protect her. The fact is that she has an
naivety and innocence to her interactions with others. It is
difficult to impress upon her the dangers of real people as sexual
predators, much less virtual predators she will not see coming until
it is too late.
I very much respect Miguel's desire to keep his daughter and students safe. I share his concerns. My daughter is younger than his, and I want to make sure that she's as protected as possible as she moves through life. But I don't know how you get from blogging to endangerment, unless you think that blogging is really all tied up in sites like Myspace.com. Myspace.com is to blogging what the Weekly World News is to journalism.
I teach journalism, but let me assure you that I do not teach from, nor recommend my students read the tabloids. And I don't send students to Myspace.com.
But I do think that there's value in the potential to have a public audience. I do find value in the idea that students can create content that will be useful to others. I like the idea that schools are bigger than the buildings that contain them. The Internet makes that possible. Closed networks create digital schools that aren't too much different from the schools we've got now.
I said this in my podcast the other day, and I think it bears repeating -- there is value in building school-only networks and creating school-only blogs. But is there more value in public spaces? I believe there is. Yes, there's also potential risk -- risk that I think can be moderated and minimized. But, I'll acknowledge, not one hundred percent eliminated.
Of course, there's risk in crossing the street. Last I checked, we were still sending kids outside and teaching them to look both ways before they hit the crosswalk.
I don't know that Miguel and I are going to agree on this, and I don't intend to keep volleying back and forth -- I'm sure he has better things to do. I think the point, at least on my end, has been made. But I wonder what gets filtered next, after the commercial blogging sites are gone.
Doug's written a very interesting post about this conversation, too. But I need to reread it a few times before I'm ready to comment. As usual, the writing's good and the ideas are better. Here's the conclusion, good words to end a day with:
We have to engage students in discussions about things that matter to
them and act as guides and interpreters to the world they are living
in. Choices, yes absolutely. It’s how students learn. Authority, yes as
well. It’s our duty. Kids need all manner of guidance, and they look to
us for leadership. They also trust us to keep them safe. We owe them
the benefit of our experience and our knowledge of the world. The
balance between responsibility and the need students have to take a
risk is real, but it’s not a static limit. It shifts and moves with
each individual. None of the institutional barriers restricting access
to information will matter if we are truly engaged in honest dialog
with our students. I don’t believe there is a choice for us to make
between one extreme or another. I think we have to be both ally and
authoritarian, depending on the circumstance. Dialog is key. When we
speak from our hearts to theirs they know we care. Our challenge is to
help students imagine a better future than the one that will be handed
to them by default. How we do that is a creative process that nobody -
to my knowledge - has mastered.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: TR
EMAIL: the_science_goddess@yahoo.com
IP: 69.29.207.56
URL: http://whatitslikeontheinside.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/19/2005 08:16:16 PM
Anybody had a look at this? http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-students.php
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 11/16/2005 10:04:14 PM
I've responded to this online at:
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_680.htm
"We cannot protect our children all the time in every way. We can, however, teach our children to help protect themselves. That's not happening in this instance."
The statement that we cannot protect children all the time in every way is a straw man. The truth is, we are obligated to protect our children as much as possible within our power to do so. We can also teach them to help protect themselves. They are not mutually exclusive points as implied in the comment.
We can teach our students to avoid predators without having them actually encounter one. We can teach them to not talk to strangers except in controlled environments, make character judgements, and more...that's the beauty of skits, simulations, and problem-based learning.
We can teach them to blog, find their own voice in podcasts, connect with each other to build personal learning networks without misappropriating adult spaces (e.g. adult in this case is defined as places where nude/naked tags result in pictures that would not be shown in K-12 schools without getting teachers fired and students censured).
Finally, yes, this is about district liability. This is about being accountable. And, if the teaching methods are unsafe, or expose students to environments that are dangerous, then districts should be liable to parents. As teachers, we exercise significant power within our sphere of influence--the classroom. That influence must have boundaries set by the District policy and procedure.
Should we as teachers--and that includes the teacher that doesn't give a hoot about blogging and let's them go out unsupervised without clear paremeters--allow abuse of the tools we provide our students, then we are liable.
Thanks for the dialogue!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Will R.
EMAIL: weblogged@gmail.com
IP: 65.40.236.37
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 11/16/2005 02:55:45 PM
Great post Bud! And nice response, Miguel. This is exactly why kids should be blogging.
Having said that, I'm with Bud. The "safeguards kids" line really, really bothers me. It doesn't safeguard kids in the least because it teaches them nothing. It's all about liability, and it would be refreshing to see someone admit that.
And MySpace and Flickr as "adult" sites? Wow. If that's the standard, I hope you're turning off every television set in your district.
And what a sad commentary on education to say that we can't trust our teachers to teach. We are in a mess of trouble if we just accept that as reality.
We cannot protect our children all the time in every way. We can, however, teach our children to help protect themselves. That's not happening in this instance.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_663.htm
DATE: 11/16/2005 04:57:24 AM
Bud, were I in your shoes, I would argue the exact same points and lose...in fact, most of these sites are blocked already by content filtering folks. However, I'm not in your shoes. I have to find a path between the risk you would deal with in your classroom and procedure that blocks inappropriate adult sites--including virtual spaces like MySpace.com, Flickr, and others. The sad part of this story, is that others also see the necessity of blocking sites, as poor a solution as it is, as the only way to protect the District, teachers from liability. They don't like the solution either, but that's the imperfect compromise. It's acceptable because it safeguards are children and District.
To deal with the trust issue, I agree completely. I have made these points myself. We just don't trust our teachers--to run their computers, to teach information literacy, etc. In Districts with integrated learning systems, lock-step scope and sequences that must be followed religiously, it's clear they are not trusted to even teach. The reasons that happens are legion, but I'm sure you can concede the point that trust is not something teachers enjoy universally in the United States...perhaps, in Latin American countries, but not here in the U.S.
I agree with your other points about parent training and literature.
Ah well. Thanks for the conversation on this topic! May we have more!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Sounds Familiar
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 11/15/2005 10:04:17 PM
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Anne's latest post reminds me an awful lot of my school.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Attack of the Librarians
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/11/2005 09:42:32 PM
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As I get more and more interested in Internet filters and potential online censorship, I'm finding more and more librarians in my aggregator.
That makes sense. When I was in middle school, the librarians helped me discover all of the books and authors that helped me grow as a reader, writer, and thinker. It's only appropriate that now they're writing the blogs that are doing the same.
Hooray for the libraries. Hooray, librarians!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex
EMAIL: vashblue@yahoo.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL:
DATE: 11/15/2005 10:21:33 AM
WOW!!!! go bud go librarians wooooooo this is one of the most interesting posts i have read all month.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Choices
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Filtering
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 11/11/2005 09:06:13 PM
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Tonight's offering is a drive home spent thinking through choices, filters, this week's trip to the bookstore and some stuff I've read lately. Specifically, one of Miguel's posts from earlier in the week. As usual, the podcast is first draft thinking -- but it's been swirling around my brain for several days.
Your thoughts, as always, are much appreciated. I might be wrong on this one.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_663.htm
DATE: 11/12/2005 09:16:29 PM
Bud, thank you for your thoughts. I'm going to respond in a podcast of my own, but you did inspire me to write about something I've been mulling over. I hope you don't mind my sharing it with you here! It's available online at:
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_663.htm
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/12/2005 02:00:03 AM
Bud,
You know I'm with you regarding your views on filtering. Even Miguel admits banning is a bandaid solution and I posted about that as well.
Filtering is a never ending battle you'll never win. Part of the issue is that it has never been part of education or curriculum before. I think if it's not explicitly part of curriculum it should certainly be dealt with in every area classroom.
Once you start down the path of filtering I don't know where it stops.
So does that mean we allow our students to go to sites like myspaces? Probably not but that only comes with an open discussion of why.
I like your ideas on choices. Today's kids are bombarded with way more choice than they've ever had. Teaching students how to make wise choices should be a major component of any information based classroom. I'd be interested to see how many kids in districts where myspaces has been banned hit the site at home compared students in districts who haven't banned the site. My gut tells me if districts deal with the issues surrounding the content and the dangers of revealing this content, that many students would make better choices, or at least be equipped to make better choices.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amy Flores
EMAIL: agdesigns@sbcglobal.net
IP: 69.152.72.214
URL:
DATE: 11/11/2005 09:42:39 PM
Sorry - it didn't post my url you can find it on woai.com "Online Terror Threat Hits Local High School"
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amy Flores
EMAIL: agdesigns@sbcglobal.net
IP: 69.152.72.214
URL:
DATE: 11/11/2005 09:38:01 PM
Although I'm new to the edublog community and learning more about blogging.
It is quite interesting to see what everyone is blogging about...
I ran into Mighel at an EdTech day-conference in Austin, TX Thurs and he expanded on the whole myspace topic. (I had just learned how to get feeds from FeedBlitz earlier so I wasn't quite up to speed on his blog.)
The myspace issue was really big in SA- practically shutting down Warren H.S. in San Antonio due to a possible Columbine-like experience. Not sure if you were aware of this.
Link to SA news media that I googled.
I have noticed other have started blogging in response to this as well.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Question -- and One Heck of an Answer
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 11/09/2005 04:01:21 PM
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I love how a good question can lead to a bunch of really interesting, if perhaps trivial, information. Wesley Fryer was curious about a copyright the other day, and . . .
Well, go read it for yourself. I love how he shares his process through this particular post.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Laptop Cart?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 11/08/2005 11:17:41 PM
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Okay -- last post for the night. It's been real feast or famine around here lately, hasn't it? anyway, it's only fair to report, since I ranted a little about this yesterday, that I received word today that things are slowly starting to move forward in regards to the classroom laptops for my school. That's good news -- it means that I can see blogging on the horizon for some of my classes for third quarter.
That's appropriate -- I became a blogger during the third quarter of last school year -- so it's fitting that, by my first blogday, I'll be blogging with many more students than during our pilot course.
I'm starting to ramble, so let me get to the point. In the quote for the laptops that I saw, I noticed that each machine was priced with a nylon carrying case. That doesn't seem like a good thing to me -- I think they should be stored in one central place -- and I know I've seen laptop carts that are made for storage and charging. Won't the nylon bags get in the way, both practically and financially?
Also -- while I've seen plenty of laptop carts online and in catalogs, I'm curious to know what those of you who are already working with mobile computer labs are using.
Mind sharing a bit?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anne Davis
EMAIL: adavis@gsu.edu
IP: 131.96.242.227
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com
DATE: 11/09/2005 11:43:59 AM
My boss ordered some good carts. Here is a copy of an email she sent to another department head about them:
> I ordered them directly from the company. They are called Harbor Laptop
> Carts. The web site is
> http://www.spectrumfurniture.com/prd/lvl3.cfm?prodline_id=10&cat_id=48&subcat_id=23&subcat=184
>
> When you call and ask them to quote you a price make sure they include
> shipping. They are freakishly heavy. You want the 2nd set of handles and
> the recharging storage modules as well as the padding and 5" balloon
> wheels.
>
> A word of caution....you have to put the thing together. Plan on spending
> the day. Also, we purchased additional power supplies for our carts so
> that we would not have to reconnect them each time to the cart....just an
> idea.
>
> They have another product called the H3 cart, it only holds 24 laptops,
> but it holds them horizontally as opposed to on their sides. You may want
> to look at that.
> http://www.spectrumfurniture.com/prd/pdfs/ACF5F9.pdf
>
>
> The site will allow you to ask for a quote.
Hope this helps!
Anne
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Raj Boora
EMAIL: idarknight@gmail.com
IP: 68.149.168.78
URL: http://idarknight.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/09/2005 08:25:01 AM
We have several Bretford carts. They are likely the best solution out there. Contact Bretford directly so you can get a better range of carts (http://www.bretford.com/products/pricing.asp?id=55) and get the smaller carts configured as you need (we have two that are configed for 32 machines and two that are media/science carts). Apple should be able to get you the cart that you want (they just order from Bretford anyway and then put an Apple item number on it to be included in your order).
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Brian Mull
EMAIL: bmull@bigfoot.com
IP: 12.152.102.212
URL: http://www.brianmull.com
DATE: 11/09/2005 06:28:21 AM
We have a Bretford cart that we ordered through Apple as part of their mobile learning package. I think it's great. It locks everything up tight and it charges all of the laptops so that they're always ready to go.
http://store.apple.com/AppleStore/WebObjects/K12Custom.woa/72308/wo/hn1fl59Crpv42ZByjXS4OK5h9EN/0.SLID?nclm=3735A3C3&mco=7A18EDF7
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Welcome Back!
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/08/2005 11:09:10 PM
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Steve's back. It's good to have him, too. The drive home had a warm, good ol' days feel about it. Pretty funny since I only started listening to him earlier this year. If you're not familiar with his podcast/blog -- well, it's time you check it out.
Anyway, Steve -- we're tickled to have you back.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Off to the Book Store
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 11/08/2005 11:04:27 PM
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Tomorrow, my literature class is off the the local book store to purchase our independent novels for this quarter. Whenever I teach a literature class, I like to combine the job of librarian and teacher and ask my students to help me select the books that they wish to read and to use to stock the school library.
I use some of our school's library budget to pay for our trip, and after my class, all of the books I'll be buying for students will go into our school's library. Everybody wins.
First, the class selects several topics that we'd like to read about. I call them theme topics, but that's a fairly arbitrary phrase. One of the advantages of selecting topics like this is that they tend to be open-ended or broad enough that lots and lots of books will fit. Here are a few of this quarter's:
- Death
- Good vs. Evil
- Culture
Once the class selects topics, we head to the store. We spent today in class discussing possible titles that students have read that might meet the particular categories, and I tried to pepper the conversation with several titles that I knew about or had read that might fit.
I really get a kick out of teaching literature because so many of the students at my school say that they have never finished a book before they come to our program. When I provide them with choices and show them how to navigate a book store, I'm attempting to help them discover some of what it is that readers do. Creating readers is pretty important school work. (And, yes, I want them to be digitally literate, too. But sometimes a good novel and some conversation are just the prescription for learning to think critically.)
Once books are chosen, we return to the classroom, dig in to our books, and work on some reading and note-taking strategies. The topics groups will meet once a week in a modified Book Club format. In a few weeks, we'll trade books and start in new groups.
How do you provide opportunities for meaningful choices in your classroom? Do you value student choices?
Here's a much more immediate question -- Any suggestions for books for me for tomorrow? I'll be picking something, too -- and I'd like to read a good vs. evil story. The only rule I give my students is that we're going to be reading novels -- got any ideas?
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AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 204.112.130.94
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/09/2005 10:24:39 PM
I've got a few good vrs. evil suggestions:
A classic is Stephen King's The Stand. A super plague wipes out all but 1% of humanity. The survivors fall into two very distinct camps (good and evil) and eventually confront each other. Hard to put this one down.
I'm currently reading book 11 of what the author, Robert Jordan, promises will be a 12 book series; the Wheel of Time series. Book one is called The Eye of the World (fantasy) -- you won't be able to put it down.
Stephen R. Donaldson wrote a great 5 book science fiction series call The Gap Series. The first book is called The Real Story. Loosely based on Wagner's opera The Ring, there are three main characters -- the victim, the hero and the perpetrator. Over the course of the story each character assumes the role of each of the others -- perpetrator becomes victim becomes hero, etc. Another great read you won't be able to put down. The overriding message is that no matter what depths of depravity a person sinks to, they can raise above it, grow and become a new and better person.
The Harry Potter series is another good vrs. evil story.
For "death" anything by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. The classic is On Death and Dying; but none of it is fiction.
For death in the fantasy genre read Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse.
Enjoy!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey Columbus
EMAIL: goblin.alchemist @gmail.com
IP: 66.153.120.118
URL:
DATE: 11/09/2005 09:20:24 AM
Interestingly enough, I can't think of a Good vs. Evil story I've read lately. It's been mostly ambiguous things like the Dark Tower series and intellectually fluffy offerings like Vampire Hunter D. Currently, I'm reading something called "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk (the Fight Club guy) about a woman who gets her jaw shot off.
I'm thinking that my lack of recommendations is because I have a weird definition of "Good vs. Evil". Rarely are struggles so clean-cut. After all, in real life, both sides of a conflict have usually done some wrong and some good. Go ahead and let me know if the class turns up something good, though. My reading list is never long enough.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Positive Spin on the Rules
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 11/08/2005 10:37:41 PM
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Anne posted today on some guidelines she's been thinking about. The guidelines are great, but I really like the philosophy behind them:
What got me really
thinking though was that most of the guidelines focused on what NOT to
do like.......
- not use last names
- not plagiarize
- not post personal info like addresses or phone numbers
- not use profanity
- not use destructive criticism
It got me thinking about a
class I took years OK. The speaker was talking about all our NOT rules
and how that makes the students focus on what NOT to do. I agree. Don't get me wrong, I agree with
these NOTS but I think we are missing the boat. We need to focus on the
possibilities. I know. Here I go again on the possibilities but that is
the heart of it all for me. I really think blogs could be a platform to
redefine education. I want that redefining to include the voices of
students. Students really need to be engaging in this type of thinking.
I've found that many of them don't know how to reflect and talk about
their learning experiences. Why would they? We haven't really given
them much time for this type of writing. We haven't given them much
time to talk about how they learn; it's mainly about what they learn.
We need to change that. We need to talk more with our students and
really listen. We need to help them with learning how to express their
thoughts and help us understand the changing learning arena.
She is so right on. One spin that I like to make in my classes when students ask if they have to do something is that I remind them that they get to do that thing that I've asked them to do. Some students roll their eyes when I say that, but I really do think such shifts in language can make a difference. This positive approach is a very Shel Silverstein-esque way of thinking. I like that. Hope you do.
Anne suggests several guidelines:
For students:
- practice writing their thoughts about what they
are learning, what they understand and don't understand, why it is
meaningful or not
- making connections to their learning by exploring what others have written about it on the web
- contributing their ideas on how our schools could
be restructured to have them excited about and believing that they will
actually use the information they have acquired in school. What's
relevant to them and what and why do they need to learn?
- striving to improve your writing and take risks
with expressing your ideas and bouncing those ideas off of a much
larger audience
- providing a good model of blogging that will convince others that you are thinking and learning (and improving your writing)
- developing a distinct voice that will make a difference
- striving for writing that matters
- expressing your opinion but backing it up with well thought out reasons
- learning to collaborate
- asking questions that will make a reader think and want to comment
- realizing that inappropriate comments can be handled in such a way that negates their impact
I started this list with students in mind but it works for us, too. Another guideline to go along with the blogging:
- having face-to-face communication and discussions between teachers and students.
Anne also asks for suggestions. I'd suggest that somewhere on the list should be a statement about asking students to protect themselves when online, something like, "Respecting the need for safety for yourself and others." But I don't love that particular wording.
If Anne consents, I think I'll add these guidelines, and those that follow from her comments, to my materials for new bloggers. You should go and visit Anne and share your ideas, too.
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AUTHOR: Anne Davis
EMAIL: adavis@gsu.edu
IP: 131.96.242.227
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com
DATE: 11/09/2005 11:46:16 AM
Of course, I consent! Use what you need. I shared many of your links with the educator from Washington. That's what all this blogging is about. Your suggestion is a good one! I love the 'Shel Silverstein-esque way of thinking' I will point my students to it. It is perfect!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Filtering & Policy
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 11/08/2005 04:26:42 PM
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I missed the post by about two months, but Doug has some really good questions/points about filtering and CIPA.
Better late than never, right?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Drupal, Drupal
STATUS: Draft
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CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 11/07/2005 09:25:47 PM
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I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words about our new website. As we speak, students are working on the next crop of articles. I did think I should answer a couple of questions that people had. The blogging block I've had for the last couple of weeks didn't make for a very timely response -- but here goes anyway.
Darren asked about some of the sidebar features on the site. I'm pleased to tell you that all of them are standard Drupal features. Pretty much click and drag to turn them on, move them, or turn them off.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Rant
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 11/07/2005 09:05:02 PM
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You were warned. This is a bit of a rant -- something I try never to do here on this blog. But, I feel like if I don't get some of this stuff out, I'm going to abandon blogging, and I certainly don't want to do that.
I made arrangements with my old principal to have a classroom set of wireless laptops available for our students last Spring. We requested the money from a district capital reserve account and the district granted our request, as well as a request to put a SMARTBoard in my classroom.
Four months went by. I returned to school and began looking for the computers.
They weren't there. And they still aren't. I was promised by the gentleman in charge of such purchases that I'd have them by Christmas. Maybe.
That simply isn't good enough. I understand busy, and I understand being understaffed, as the district's technology folks are, but I'm getting tired of waiting. I had plans to get students blogging on a regular basis. Now, I can't put them in front of computers often enough to do so. Am I being foolish to assume that seven months is too long to wait for equipment once the money has been approved?
In August, I bought some server space and put a Moodle on it so that I could be able to manage my own resources when it came to student work and server space. The district folks are pretty busy, and I wanted to save them the trouble. My administrators have been quite supportive of that work and how we've looked after students.
Now I'm ready to do the same for hardware. Anyone know where I can get $20,000 or so for a classroom set of laptops and some other wireless equipment?
Heck -- let's go for broke. If we get our own Internet pipe, we won't have to deal with the filters, either.
Okay -- now back to your regularly scheduled blogging. Thanks for making it this far.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Filtering, in Practice
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 11/07/2005 08:52:36 PM
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Miguel posted an interesting question/experience on Friday to a listserv and to his blog:
We are starting to use blogging, podcasting, etc. for instructional uses
here in our district. These are teacher-guided uses, that add
instructional value and engage students. We've had some issues come up
with student going to a blogging site: www.myspace.com
during their off time (library, etc).
I've had two calls in the last few weeks from a principal and a
librarian at high schools. They are having problems with this site. It
seems that students are posting inappropriate content (photos, etc.).
They've requested blocking this site. During the first phone call, I
advocated for leaving these sites open but monitoring use (walk around,
see what's happening) and taking disciplinary action, if necessary. I
don't want to have to block every site that pops up---if we block this
one, they'll simply find another. Further, word travels fast--if we take
disciplinary action, they'll take more care in following our district
AUP. Are any of you having similar situations? If so, what are you
choosing to do?
I posted a comment on his blog, and I hope you'll do the same, but I wanted to elaborate.
My school district blocked Myspace (or is it My Space) last week. They did so in response to administrative and teacher complaints. I'm not sure of the details, and I'm not sure if I'm pleased or uncomfortable with the blocking itself.
Intellectually, I abhor the idea of blocking access to a website. Some of my students have used the site, and they don't use it for some of the troubling things that I've seen others talk about when discussing the evil that is Myspace. Others, I know, use the site for personal stuff that shouldn't be on the Internet at all, much less in our school.
Practically, I don't know that I can go to bat for a site like Myspace. I've got a bigger hurdle in front of me in regards to blogging and filters, and I'm not sure that I want to take a stand on the side of Myspace. I'd rather save my fight for the right battle. (But what happens if I wait until it's too late?) One of my biggest frustrations with being anti-filter is that it seems like one way to view my position is that I'm the guy that wants to remove a layer of protection from our students and the world. That's not necessarily a useful label.
But blocking is still wrong. Where are the monitors that are supposed to be working with students on the Internet. In Miguel's example above, as well as in my district, someone is paying close enough attention to know that students are up to no good.
Why couldn't they have used the few minutes that they spent calling/e-mailing Miguel to teach the students about appropriate use instead?
Doug's post on banning pencils because they have the potential to be misused seems appropriate to mention here:
I gotta say that this “potential misuse” as a reason for banning
technologies drives me nuts. If we applied this rationale for not
allowing a technology to an old, familiar technology, we’d certainly
have to ban pencils from school because:
- A student might poke out the eye of another student.
- A student might write a dirty word with one. Or even write a whole harassing note and pass it to another student.
- One student might have a mechanical pencil making those with wooden ones feel bad.
- The pencil might get stolen or lost.
- Kids might be doodling instead of working on their assignments.
Oh, sure, kids might actually use them to take notes or compose a paper - but really, what’s the chance of that?
I cringe whenever I hear a district or school “banning” cell phones,
blogging software, e-mail, flash drives, chat, game sites, etc. Each of
these technologies has positive educational uses. Each of these
technologies is a big part of many kids’ lives outside of school. And
yes, each of these technologies has the “potential” for misuse.
One of my biggest worries has always been that by denying access to
technologies that students find useful and meaningful within school, we
make school less and less relevant to our Net Genners. When are we
going to learn to use the kids devices for their benefit rather than
invent excuses to outlaw them?
I'm with Doug. Why are we blocking the Internet instead of teaching students how to use it? I know I've asked the question before, and I know I'm preaching to the choir, mostly.
But, doggonit, I get really frustrated feeling like the outsider here when I know that it isn't my paradigm or institutional inertia that is the problem.
Will spoke to a group of English teachers tonight about the power of new forms of writing. They seemed tired to him:
In general, I could see the fatigue on their faces, the "I've got too
much on my plate to think about this" looks. And I totally, totally
understand it. And, by and large, this is a very smart, very dedicated
group that I really believe wants to do the best for their students.
But they're pretty overwhelmed as it is.
But I also wanted to push back and say we need to be more imaginative
in our approach to these ideas. That we need to be willing to accept
some of these changes and find the opportunities instead of clinging to
our old paradigms. That we need to embrace these changes instead of
resist them, because this is our students' future, without question.
None of it easy, I know.
I don't know that most of the quote is applicable, but I do feel the desire to "push back" against those in my district who are blocking sites. I just don't know how.
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AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_632.htm
DATE: 11/08/2005 08:32:36 PM
For fun, I decided to go visit the MySpace.com site and get an account. I posted my reflections online at http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_646.htm and encourage you to go take a look...what you'll find at MySpace.com is stuff that shouldn't be made available during school hours, except to show parents what to watch out for.
It's clear that we have a lot of work to do. Worse, it's obvious that the Read/Write Web's reputation can be severely tarnished by only a few of these types of incidents, especially like the ones that occurred in to Warren High School in Northside ISD in San Antonio, Tx (read more online at:
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_644.htm
(not my district, thank goodness!). However, the potential exists...so, this makes your Jotspot blog policy wiki all the more critical and urgent. I intend to take a hard look at it tomorrow morning, even as my staff and I begin work on our own policy.
Thanks again,
Miguel Guhlin
mguhlin@yahoo.com
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jane Sample
EMAIL: jane.sample@cotullaisd.org
IP: 69.147.4.101
URL:
DATE: 11/08/2005 06:57:30 AM
This is a great opportunity to teach internet safety in the classroom. I wonder how many teachers will follow up with a discussion on the issue with their students? I know I will visit it again with the teachers I work with.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_632.htm
DATE: 11/08/2005 04:58:12 AM
Bud, thanks for responding to this. It's important that we all develop solutions that include as many disparate points of view as possible. I want to acknowledge your work with the blog policy wiki, and have done so in my blog. I'm going to post my response to your entry above later today (tonight actually) from a tech director's perspective. Thank you again for your feedback.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wow.
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/04/2005 01:00:00 PM
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I'm featured as a "Blog of the Day" over at Red Orbit. Very cool.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Positive Blog'ospin
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 11/03/2005 10:51:57 PM
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While many of you were praising the New York Times blogging story today, I was pleased to see a local version of the story in the Rocky Mountain News. Here's my favorite part:
Leigh Marriner of the Silicon Valley
consulting and market research firm Cheskin said businesses shouldn't
underestimate teens - especially with technology.
"They're setting the trends," said Marriner.
So who are these kids?
Austin Caires, a 15-year-old at D'Evelyn Senior High School in
Jefferson County, created a Web site for his Scout troop. While a work
in progress, the home page offers Scouting history. There's an events
calendar.
Caires even started his own Web site design business. He takes pride in his work because it demonstrates an important point.
"Being young doesn't matter," he said. "You can still be good at something."
Twelve-year-old Chandler Branzell, who attends Lesher Junior
High School in Fort Collins, also has created Web sites for a variety
of clientele.
How does he do it, once a person explains what they want?
"A picture pops into my head of what I want to do. And I come home and work on it," Branzell said.
Teens' online habits offer opportunities and challenges for businesses trying to reach them.
"You have to go where they spend their time. And they spend
their time online," said Michelle Andreas, vice president at the San
Diego market research firm Claritas.
A 12- year old is making websites while his school district blocks blogging. I'll let you look for the meaning lurking in there.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Video? What for?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 11/01/2005 10:06:51 PM
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Aaron's first foray into video is a fabulous example of what you can do with a few tools and a lot of imagination. Well done, Aaron. Looking forward to the future videos in the series.
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AUTHOR: Fritz
EMAIL: richard@masoner.net
IP: 12.151.32.25
URL: http://www.cyclelicio.us
DATE: 11/02/2005 10:20:10 AM
That's pretty good. I have a post about Do's and Don'ts (Don't's?) of short videos coming up in the next day or so.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Sneak Peek
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 10/31/2005 11:38:53 PM
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Spent a good chunk of our first quarter putting together a website for our new and improved student newspaper. The paper will be formally unveiled on Wednesday, but enough students and others know about it already that I don't feel bad sharing it with you. Enjoy. Share your thoughts. We're just getting started -- but I'm pretty impressed with their work so far.
I have a whole new class of student journalists (five of them) this quarter, and we'll be continuing to improve the site, adding pictures and, hopefully, creating a community of writing for our school. A note about student safety: All of the writers are using screennames, and all of our student sources are only identified by first name and last initial. How do you cite student sources in your online publications?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL:
DATE: 11/03/2005 12:12:04 PM
Bud, this is amazing! I had to remind myself that these were students writing rather than "professionals".
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@mac.com
IP: 24.118.246.111
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/01/2005 07:31:51 PM
Bud, your intro header about publishing GOOD student work says it all. I genuinely enjoyed reading these articles. Interesting topics, good leads, and articles that explored the interesting questions about the topics. Oh! And topics so well chosen to appeal to your student audience. You've got a winner here.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 205.200.110.54
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/01/2005 07:43:30 AM
Bud, the site is beautiful! I really liked the way you've set up the teasers on the front page. i.e The story about the "Drug Dogs." It made me want to read the entire article ... which I did and found it facinating. I also really liked the online polls and the line in the sidebar that counts the number of users online How did you do that?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Josh Thomas
EMAIL:
IP: 216.54.170.41
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/josh23/
DATE: 11/01/2005 06:34:47 AM
Bud -- this is terrific. You ready to make this a model for all journalism classes??? I think that's what you'll be doing. Dust off your PPT slides ... some folks are going to want to hear more about this from you.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 24.158.16.162
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 11/01/2005 06:22:29 AM
Wow. Enough said.
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TITLE: Bud the Teacher: A Sneak Peek
URL: http://topics.typepad.com/pondering/2005/11/bud_the_teacher.html
IP: 66.151.149.25
BLOG NAME: pondering
DATE: 11/01/2005 06:31:20 AM
Bud the Teacher: A Sneak Peek: I wanted to point you to this site: http://www.oldeschoolnews.com/news/ -- it's a soon-to-be-unveiled version of a new online school newspaper for a high school in Colorado. Using free, open source tools, Olde Columbine is
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Reminder
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 10/31/2005 11:27:57 PM
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Casey was one of my students my first year of teaching. I always learned more from her than she from me. Today was no exception. In response to a rather lengthy and angsty moment of doubt, she commented:
I think I know how you feel. It can be difficult to continue what we do
when we let our fears become too great. I'm a generally shy person to
begin with, so it can be doubly difficult for me. The issues I struggle
to educate others on can be very frustrating at times. I've had mixed
receptions, but enough lack of understanding or willingness to learn
that I wonder if it's worth it. But fights were never won by giving up
and hiding. I just keep reminding myself that. Nothing will change,
expand, or get better if people shut up.
The lines are so good, they're worth repeating:
But fights were never won by giving up
and hiding. I just keep reminding myself that. Nothing will change,
expand, or get better if people shut up.
Back to work. Pardon the interruption.
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AUTHOR: Casey Columbus
EMAIL: goblin.alchemist @gmail.com
IP: 66.153.120.118
URL:
DATE: 11/01/2005 10:47:11 AM
I'm happy to have said something that helped.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Fear
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 10/30/2005 08:39:59 PM
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Do you ever get nervous and consider abandoning any form of public writing whatsoever? Does the fear and nervousness over what others might say about what you have to say get you all wrapped up and twisted and debating whether or not it was ever worth it in the first place? Do you ever fear that the censors, either the ones in our own heads or the ones lurking out there somewhere, just might win?
I do; it does, and I do.
How about you?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tim
EMAIL: tim@assortedstuff.com
IP: 24.255.118.12
URL: http://www.assortedstuff.com
DATE: 10/31/2005 05:13:33 PM
When I first started my blog I was much more cautious about what I wrote, primarily because I didn't have any experience as to how people would take it.
These days I find myself must more willing to say what I'm thinking. However, I still try to do it by arguing for or against ideas rather than insulting or criticizing the person presenting those ideas. ("intelligent" design proponents are one big exception :-)
One thing that hasn't changed is that I still will not identify the school system I work for by name. I'm not exactly sure why since it's not hard for people working in the district to understand who and what I'm writing about. But I just feel more comfortable doing things that way.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey Columbus
EMAIL: goblin.alchemist @gmail.com
IP: 66.153.120.118
URL:
DATE: 10/31/2005 09:25:06 AM
Hey, Bud.
I think I know how you feel. It can be difficult to continue what we do when we let our fears become too great. I'm a generally shy person to begin with, so it can be doubly difficult for me. The issues I struggle to educate others on can be very frustrating at times. I've had mixed receptions, but enough lack of understanding or willingness to learn that I wonder if it's worth it. But fights were never won by giving up and hiding. I just keep reminding myself that. Nothing will change, expand, or get better if people shut up.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sean Shar
EMAIL: techmonk@mac.com
IP: 66.37.64.6
URL: http://seans.typepad.com/instructional_technology
DATE: 10/31/2005 09:06:27 AM
Absolutely, Bud. It tends to come and go in phases for me--whether I should continue or just call it quits. Yet, having a small but regular audience pushes me on when I think of bailing. Still, you post good questions that are reasonable to ask ourselves every once in a while.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 207.161.78.10
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 10/31/2005 06:56:09 AM
The censors are certainly out there, and inside of us as well. The cutting edge of any occupation is a dangerous place to lurk about; but it certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't be here. Exploring the edges brings light to new places. Exploring the edges expands the bounds of what is possible, reasonable, and expected for those following behind.
My father always said that if people don't have anyhting better to do then talk, gossip, and criticize, the least we can do is give them something to talk about.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Marco Polo
EMAIL: marco47jp@yahoo.co.uk
IP: 61.86.39.181
URL: http://marcoblogstudent.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/31/2005 02:08:43 AM
Effortless Language Acquisition
http://effortlessacquisition.blogspot.com/2005/10/ill-be-back-part-2.html
is a cautionary example. I don't know about "fear" but simple caution would never be inappropriate, I think.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Fumblings with Filtering
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 10/28/2005 12:17:12 AM
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It happened today.
A student came to find me during lunch to ask why he wasn't able to surf over to Myspaces.com. We discovered together that it had been blocked today by our school system's filtering software.
He was really, really upset about it. Wanted to know who he could write to to get it changed.
We thought about it together, and I discussed some of the reasoning behind why Myspaces.com might be blocked from a school computer.
He was understanding, but didn't think the site should be blocked. I told him I'd do a little research for him and see what I could find out.
So far, what I've discovered is that 8e6 Technologies has great customer service. I was able to get a list of potential blocking categories from him almost immediately.
We still don't know, though, the rationale for blocking Myspace.
This leads me to my latest thesis idea. (I know -- every few weeks, it changes.)
I'm thinking about a project on filters and what my thesis advisor called "invisible censorship." More on this soon.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Teachers don't want everything for free . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 10/27/2005 04:34:49 PM
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Customer service like this is why I'm sticking with Typepad as my blogging service, even though I successfully installed Wordpress a couple of months back:
Over the next week you should see significant improvement in
performance as we get extra equipment on line and finish moving data
off of heavily loaded servers. By the end of the move we will have five
times the bandwidth we had before, as well as hundreds of thousands of
dollars of new equipment, and room and power to add more equipment as
needed.
We apologize for the poor service you've experienced over the past
couple of weeks, and also for the lack of official communication on
Mena's Corner or Everything TypePad. At the same time, I know that an
apology sounds hollow until we've fixed these issues and the service is
stable once again.
We're going to do a better job of giving you updates on our status
as we work to improve the service. Thank you for your loyalty, and
we're working very hard to earn back your trust.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL: dana.huff@gmail.com
IP: 68.211.229.31
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 10/27/2005 08:13:26 PM
I have MT myself, but I have found that unless you have paid for it, they're not much help. The forums are basically useless, too. Lucky for me I'm able to figure out some things on my own! I like the UI and I really enjoy having freedom over content, which you don't get if you have blogging services like Blogger.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Brainstorming in Public
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 10/23/2005 11:01:44 PM
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I've been enjoying the Edtechtalk podcasts for a few weeks now, ever since I stumbled on to them quite by accident. My favorites are the brainstorms, where different crews of folks get together to shoot the proverbial breeze about the tech and projects that they are working on. The shows have no set agenda, and the hosts are very good at letting everyone into the conversation. Pretty much everyone is welcome, very reflective and conversational -- an awful lot like this blog.
Thursday night, I had the pleasure of joining in on the conversation. What great fun, and how cool to do, via Skype, a conversation with other educators from all over the place.
I learned a lot. Hope I didn't overstay my welcome. Oh -- as a bonus, I was doing a search for one of my favorite podcasters and discovered that the guys from Edtechtalk did an interview with him back in May. The podcast is very informative if you're interesting in the history of radio and where podcasting might be going.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: How do you listen to a graphic novel?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 10/23/2005 10:50:24 PM
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Open Source will be doing an episode this week on graphic novels. Should be good -- they've got a great lineup of guests, as always.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Missing
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 10/23/2005 12:31:41 PM
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I'm working on a presentation on technology integration I'm giving for a group of language arts methods students tomorrow. As I was putting together a section on the definition of technology, I noticed that Wikipedia's article on technology is pretty thorough, except that the word "education" doesn't appear. Once.
Anyone want to take a swing at it?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: I am not Dustin
EMAIL: iamnotdustin@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.23.216
URL: http://www.iamnotdustin.com/
DATE: 10/25/2005 09:05:29 AM
Curious request.
How is education directly linked to technology anymore than education is linked to horses, the Phillips screwdriver, or the year 262?
I try to read you and the other folks (Mr K, Lehmann, Lauer, Will) just to keep up on what is happening in my abandonned field of education, but come on. Technology doesn't belong to education. It's not as if it's intwined with education the way an agrarian calendar and schoool buses are.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that we not teach technology skills nor that technology should not be used to teach. But isn't a request like this akin to suggesting that the entry for chalk doesn't mention anything about education, anyone want to take a stab at it?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Writing Outside
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 10/22/2005 09:39:34 PM
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I wish I'd had this experience in elementary school.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Shakespearecast
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 10/20/2005 09:51:16 PM
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A regular helping of podcast Shakespeare. Very cool.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Could a Blog be a Writing Workshop?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 10/20/2005 04:38:10 PM
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Derrall works with elementary students and has been thinking about recent publications about blogs in the mainstream media (Go, Clarence!). I have been, too, as we're wrapping up a quarter and I have some student work that we'd like to publish and a new portal through which to do it. (I'm not sharing a link yet because I'm awaiting administrative approval on one minor issue on which I'll post later.)
He wrote a post today discussing the dilemma between letting kids publish and making sure they're "ready" before they do. He writes that he's:
Locked in this quandary of being the freedom seeking, enlightened
classroom facilitator, and the hunched over, anal, cackling dictator
smashing down rulers on the hands of students . . .
I know how he feels. I want my students to be judged on the quality of their ideas, but I know that some readers, like this one, will judge them on their semi-colon usage. That's a risk of publishing with students that Jim has mentioned before (several months ago, in fact):
One of my fears about students publishing on-line is that the public
will judge struggling writers and outstanding writers the same. I
afraid that community members will be critical of writing errors or
writing skills when a struggling writer publishes a piece of writing
that is their best at that time. I hope we can all put away our red
pencils long enough to value the struggle to become a writer. It takes
brave teachers to open their classroom doors and share what their
students are doing.
Anyway, Derrall mentions an idea that is a real gem:
Perhaps what is needed is for students to have essentially two parts
to their weblogs. One part would be for sharing their writing with
invited students to read and comment, and the second part would be for
the publishing of work for a larger audience (parents, teachers, world)
to read.
His words are tickling the part of my brain that says I've heard someone else thinking along those lines lately -- are there tools that we can use to do this already? To set up multiple levels of view-ability? I've been playing with Drupal and am thinking that we can do that with a student's blog there by only allowing registered users to view. Of course, I'm using Drupal right now to take a look at posts before they go public, but I'm thinking, like Derrall, that maybe students should have multiple levels of publishing available to them that don't necessarily involve teacher approval as the only step. They already do in LiveJournal, where they can make posts available to friends only. Why not in the good and academic software?
It seems essential to me that if we want to create strong writers, then our students need tools that allow them to collaborate through drafts in a simple format. How cool would it be if a student could share a blog post with four or five trusted readers(students, cyber-mentors, parents, or what have you), get feedback, make changes, and then publish the post to the Internet, all using one system and without necessarily involving the teacher? I think it's the one system piece that would be tricky -- but would make such writing and revision and workshopping more about the writing and less about the technology. You can certainly do this sort of thing with e-mail right now -- but you've got to leave time for formatting, transferring from one tool to the other, etc. A one-stop shopping situation would improve the process.
Is anybody doing this?
Thanks, Derrall, for getting me thinking again. My blogging parts were getting stiff.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Will R.
EMAIL: weblogged@gmail.com
IP: 65.113.137.34
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 10/24/2005 06:06:56 AM
Hey Bud...Manila does this in its latest iteration. Allows students to post to specific cohorts that they set up and then open up access as they feel comfortable. Also, I think 21Publish is moving in the same direction. It's definitely something that's needed for students.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amy Bellinger
EMAIL: amybellinger@gmail.com
IP: 24.14.124.255
URL: http://blogs.opml.org/amyloo
DATE: 10/22/2005 08:05:33 AM
I keep trying to urge teachers to check out OPML blogs for teaching writing. http://support.opml.org
The outline format makes it so easy to jot down notes, then expand them into sentences and paragraphs, then move them around.
Great for writing poetry and plays, too.
Add to that the immediacy of the publishing experience and it's a winner.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Aaron Nelson
EMAIL: aaron_is_now@yahoo.com
IP: 201.137.2.240
URL: http://teacherindevelopment.blogsome.com/
DATE: 10/21/2005 12:12:44 PM
Hi Bud,
You don't know me, but I've been lurking on your blog and listening to your podcasts for a few months. I really find them to be interesting and thought provoking.
Your idea today is really...very interesting. I think everyone could really profit from a writing mentor. Your idea of a layered blog is a great way to do this.
Have you ever heard of http://elgg.net ?
I'm still exploring this system, but they have layered blogging built in. You can decide who views what on your blog. Take a peek...maybe it will be useful to you...
Aaron
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug
EMAIL: borderland@northernattitude.org
IP: 10.73.158.240
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org
DATE: 10/21/2005 10:15:23 AM
Thanks for this post. It's entirely relevant to me at the moment. I'm meeting today with a school district technology administrator about setting up a CMS for the very purpose you're describing. I believe the writers workshop model is exactly what's called for. I summarized my thinking about online publishing of younger students' work last July on my blog in a post called Blogs and Pedagogy. Revision and comment from a small community of writers BEFORE publication is the best way to support writing in school.
Now that I have my school district's attention (and support) they want to know what CMS I have in mind. I'm happy that you mentioned Drupal, because that's the one that seems to have the best feature set for making a project like this work. I'm on the lookout for as much practical advice on using Drupal in an educational setting as I can find.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.20.7.212
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 10/20/2005 09:20:39 PM
I've been thinking about this for years. It requires a content management system like Plone, or I imagine Drupal could do it. It would take a couple months of developer time to really get it right. The hard part is to make going through the different levels of permission not too burdensome.
The thing is that writing workshop takes a lot of paper-shuffling procedure to do correctly, and a good CMS tailored to the job could really make the whole process easier to pull off.
If all the kids had computers...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Hot Topic for the Moment
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 10/12/2005 02:08:03 PM
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Looks like the librarians are with me.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: TR
EMAIL: the_science_goddess@yahoo.com
IP: 69.29.203.115
URL: http://whatitslikeontheinside.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/14/2005 06:46:05 PM
I was just going to send you the link for this article. I'm glad you found it!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mike Carter
EMAIL: m.carter@gateshead.org
IP: 10.210.0.249
URL: http://www.gatesheadgrid.org
DATE: 10/14/2005 09:31:09 AM
I work for a Local Authority Gateshead which is in the North East of the UK. We have been using blogs for 12 months. We have a radio station and we podcast. Would be nice to hear what others are doing.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Teacher Sol
EMAIL: marisolangala@yahoo.com
IP: 69.143.200.248
URL: http://teachersol.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/12/2005 02:55:37 PM
Hello! I'm a teacher blogger and I do podcasting too.
I hope we can learn from each other. Please feel free to exchange thoughts with us regarding the ideas I present in my entries. I hope you won't get intimidated by the commenters speaking in my native language (I am a Filipino by the way). You're always welcome to visit my blog.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Internet Filtering & the EFF
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Filtering
DATE: 10/11/2005 04:10:58 PM
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The professional organization that I asked about filters and censorship respectfully responded that the issues raised by Internet filters are not yet covered by the organization. The technologies are too new. Which is a fair position. This is new stuff.
But if we wait until someone else sets the norms and the status quo, won't it then be too late to change it?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation looked at Internet filters in schools two years ago -- I just got my hands on the report. I'll be leafing through it tonight. Full report on whatever I find interesting. Or useful. Or both.
I'll ask again -- anyone got a policy on filters that covers exactly what will or won't be covered? I'll settle for names and e-mail addresses of the people in your area who are responsible for maintaining the filters.
Thanks.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 204.158.181.46
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_632.htm
DATE: 11/04/2005 04:14:46 PM
Bud, how would you folks respond to this situation?
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/11/entry_632.htm
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Teacher Sol
EMAIL: marisolangala@yahoo.com
IP: 69.143.200.248
URL: http://teachersol.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/12/2005 03:19:34 AM
Our district is still not as advanced as some of the public schools in most cities in the US when it comes to technology. In my school, students who are using the computer lab can still download some obsence pics and websites, sometimes I wonder if they are really using filters as they say.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Teacher Sol
EMAIL: marisolangala@yahoo.com
IP: 69.143.200.248
URL: http://teachersol.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/12/2005 03:17:11 AM
Our district is still not as advanced as some of the public schools in most cities in the US when it comes to technology. In my school, students who are using the computer lab can still download some obsence pics and websites, sometimes I wonder if they are really using filters as they say.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Teacher Sol
EMAIL: marisolangala@yahoo.com
IP: 69.143.200.248
URL: http://teachersol.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/12/2005 03:16:36 AM
Our district is still not as advanced as some of the public schools in most cities in the US when it comes to technology. In my school, students who are using the computer lab can still download some obsence pics and websites, sometimes I wonder if they are really using filters as they say.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.27.202
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/11/2005 11:24:04 PM
Our small-town backwater in California's "Imperial" Valley uses a filter called, "Bess." Our school district has a so-called "acceptable use policy" that is so broadly written (requiring the teacher to literally stand over students' shoulders) that most teachers in our district have given-up using computers or the internet as teaching aids.
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PING:
TITLE: Carnival of Education
URL: http://drcookie.blogspot.com/2005/10/carnival-of-education_12.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: JennyD
DATE: 10/12/2005 06:45:08 AM
Welcome to the Carnival! The Education Wonks do a great job of keeping track of which number carnival this is, but honestly, I have no idea. Instead I’ll do what I do best…and post these many great links in the edusphere.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What Would You Do?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 10/11/2005 03:59:53 PM
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Chris has a dream job. He'll be opening a new school next year in the heart of a museum. The conversation at his place is all about what to do when you're starting from scratch. I especially like his ideas about student filmmaking. We begin our film course here in two weeks.
I'm watching with green-eyed wonder. Anybody need an English teacher at their school? How about a technology guy?
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AUTHOR:
EMAIL:
IP: 68.84.32.120
URL:
DATE: 10/11/2005 07:09:22 PM
Sure... send me a resume! I definitely need a good English / Tech teacher. Want to teach a film course?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Time for a Filtering Policy
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: The Podcast
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 10/07/2005 03:37:51 PM
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The podcast today is about the need for a filtering policy and a bit on why I have a problem with who is in control of the filters. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, questions, and rants. Enjoy.
Links mentioned in this podcast:
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AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 207.161.78.10
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 10/12/2005 06:25:37 AM
I walk a mile back and forth to school each day and this morning I finally had a chance to listen to this podcast.
Between listening to your daughter gurgle in the back seat (I have 5 and 7 year old boys; I've been there...) and listening to your comments about marking ("is that a 93% or a 94% on the human experience...") I laughed out loud on my walk this morning.
Your podcast was, as usual, informative and thought-provoking, but I had to let you know how much you brightened my walk this morning as well as informing my mind.
Thanks
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Justin
EMAIL: j.aion@rih.org
IP: 167.206.216.254
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/~captainjew
DATE: 10/10/2005 12:23:56 PM
After listening to your comments on the filtering guidelines, I went and asked our tech people. They said no, there is not place that they can sit and point to where such guidelines are listed.
As you are, I'm very concerned about this for many of the reasons that you laid out in your show. I'm going to dig a little deeper and see what I can discover.
I'll let you know.
Justin
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Filtering Podcast a Brewing
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 10/07/2005 01:49:49 PM
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There've been some interesting comments on the filtering posts from earlier this week. With recent events in Colorado heating up the part of my brain that abhors censorship, I've got lots more to say. Miguel's shared an interesting post on filtering. Good stuff. I'm subscribed.
I'll be podcasting on my drive home today to continue the conversation.
Any requests?
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AUTHOR: Casey
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 170.76.20.253
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 10/07/2005 02:49:06 PM
"I'll be podcasting on my drive home today to continue the conversation.
Any requests?"
Anything by The Who or Rolling Stones, maybe some Tom Petty?
Sorry, couldn't resist. Must be the old radio guy still in me...
Drive safely! :)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Ethics of Anonymous?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 10/07/2005 01:30:35 PM
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David's got an interesting post today on being anonymous. I'd like to respond -- but other work first. Response later.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: How Dare They?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 10/06/2005 10:28:59 PM
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They should be ashamed.
The adults -- not the teenagers.
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AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL: dana.huff@gmail.com
IP: 68.19.109.170
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 10/12/2005 06:03:51 PM
Wow... that book is on our required reading list. But then, my principal is a former English teacher with a passion for multicultural literature.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Free Audio Books
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 10/06/2005 04:19:42 PM
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I like free stuff. I also like books. And I drive a lot. Those're several reasons why I enjoyed Earthcore so much, and why I'm listening to Ancestor now. Both are books that were podcast by the author. I liked the first so much, I intend to buy a paperback copy. (Warning -- the books are for adults only, and because I've just said that, every teenager that comes across this post will rush to download them. You've been warned.)
How cool would it be someone were to collect a group of volunteers to read, record and podcast all of the really great, public-doman books that are out there? Wouldn't that be a great idea?
Someone thinks so, and I agree.
Of course, these guys are also sharing books via podcast. Cool stuff.
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AUTHOR: Jenny
EMAIL: jmoon@gcs.k12.al.us
IP: 68.220.209.171
URL: http://www.gcs.k12.al.us
DATE: 10/17/2005 11:16:29 AM
Thanks for your posts on "podcast" books. I am just beginning to do some "podcast" for our school system webpages along with some Camtasia files. I am starting out with vocabulary for our elementary reading series. Just found your site today and I am sure it will be one of my favorites!!! Our system is also going to use our EETT money this year to purchase iPods for our teachers to use with students in their schools to create their own. I am very excited about this. Anything you have to add to help us along the way would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks for all you do!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scott Sigler
EMAIL: scott@scottsigler.net
IP: 67.160.219.23
URL: http://www.scottsigler.net
DATE: 10/06/2005 11:52:38 PM
Hi Bud. Thanks for the compliments for EarthCore and Ancestor. I hope you like Ancestor as much or more by the time it's done. A great link for a podcast novel that's fit for a YA audience is The Pocket and the Pendant (www.pocketandpendant.com) by Mark Jeffrey. Fantastic book, some pretty steep subjects involved, but it's definitely fit for youngsters and will have them furiously looking Babalonyian and Sumatrian history on the web.
Mark doesn't have the poo-poo mouth that I have.
-Scott-
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 10/06/2005 09:06:51 PM
I'd be willing to be a "reader". Having spent almost 20 years in Radio and Television, I was told I had a face for radio... :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hugh
EMAIL: librivox@yahoo.ca
IP: 65.93.129.7
URL: http://librivox.blogsome.com
DATE: 10/06/2005 08:41:48 PM
bud, I trust you've gone to librivox and signed up to read a chapter of something?? we're always looking for volunteers ...
and rachel, we've got a couple of kids books in the works:
"just-so stories" by kipling, and
"Five Children and It," by Edith Nesbit
both books are looking for volunteers to read chapters, see the "readers wanted" section of:
http://www.mediatinker.com/librivoxforum/
all the best.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: rachelj@stratford-primary.school.nz
IP: 222.152.145.162
URL: http://www.bardwired.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/06/2005 06:21:29 PM
Hi Bud
I've been trying to track down story book type podcasts for kids mainly for my 9 year old daughter but also i can see them being used as listening posts in a junior classroom. When i was a kid (probably showing my age here!) i used to love listening to radio stories like 'Horton the Elephant' 'Gossamer Wump' etc Where are all these sorts of stories in podcast? Still coming i suppose. There are some great 'reading books' online like Tumblebooks and at the
BBC but u have to be sitting at a screen to enjoy those.
So far I have found StoryCast (though don't know if this is really suitable) & Accelerated Reader Books. KPE here in NZ do book reviews which isn't quite what I'm looking for...
Maybe that can be my summer holiday project - sourcing some good kids stories & making them available. (Yep summer coming up very soon here :-)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: More on Filters
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 10/04/2005 03:35:39 PM
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Since I first posted on filtering and my frustrations this morning, I've had some time to think more about them.
And I'm getting angry.
Hear me out. If a librarian, administrator, or other education professional, working in a public school, removed a resource from a classroom based on an arbitrary set of personally constructed and ever-changing "policies" that exist only in private or in that individual's head, I think we would get angry.
But when it happens with a website, or, worse yet, a collection of websites that might contain the wrong keyword, "blog" or "Gothic" or "sex," for example, we say, "Gosh, isn't that frustrating," and go on with our day.
Isn't that censorship? Of course there's a difference between blocking an explicit sexual site and banning Shakespeare, but most of the filters block far more than sex. And they do so based on the ideas and thoughts of a select few, working in the dark.
That's wrong.
Now -- enough complaining. What's there to do? I sent out some e-mail just now inquiring about filtering policies around the country. I went to the same folks I'd go to if someone were proposing the banning of a book in my community.
We'll see what they have to say. What do you have to say? Am I wasting my time worrying about such? Am I right? Somewhere in between? Everybody's got a filtering story. What are we doing about them?
I can tell you this -- Dean's district seems to have the right idea.
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AUTHOR: Greg Van Nest
EMAIL: gregorvn@yahoo.com
IP: 207.99.90.253
URL:
DATE: 10/07/2005 12:10:11 PM
Two filtering stories:
I once worked at a school that blocked every web site with a ~ in the address. Very limiting.
The link you gave for your vegetable chopper was blocked today by my schools filtering program.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 10/06/2005 08:58:44 PM
I can understand their reasoning as far as their desire to protect the kids from places on the Internet that they don't understand. Many of these kids believe what they see on the web as we have taught them to use the web for research. My students think that if they "shoot the rabbit" they will win a free iPod. They believe all those pop-ups and links.
As educators we have to police them while they are on the web because we as parents expect that from the educators. It's our job to teach them right from wrong as well as good and bad.
Now as an adult, I resent the inability to go where ever I feel is appropriate while I'm at school. I lost my innocence a long time ago. I also have figured a way past all filtering on my district’s system so I can go wherever I want with little to no interference. I go nowhere, intentionally, that violates our AUP. I don't need any headaches other than the ones I get from my students. :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cheryl
EMAIL: edtechie@koolkidssign.com
IP: 70.20.192.110
URL: http://www.angeland.org
DATE: 10/05/2005 08:35:43 PM
One school I worked in blocked my personal website www.angeland.org. I think because I used the word playground in the description maybe?
My son has Angelman Syndrome and when his sister was about 11 or 12 we (mostly me) created a website for the siblings because the syndrome is very draining on the family. Yes it has games and activities but it also has a place for the kids to tell about themselves and their sibling and do a little venting. It also provides links to additional information. There was no way to unblock the sight because it was done on the software level and not on the district level.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 10/05/2005 07:41:25 PM
Wrote you back here, Bud...hope you like the cartoons.
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/10/entry_555.htm
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Malnurtured Snay
EMAIL: malsnay@hotmail.com
IP: 69.137.148.221
URL: http://www.malnurturedsnay.net
DATE: 10/04/2005 08:41:04 PM
I think we should just plug our children into a pre-programmed computer that can pump them full of information, including something to stop them from ever wanting to read a banned book or look at someone sexually. Also, we can program them to drive good because lord knows I run screaming off the road everytime I see a teenager in a car.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.171
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 10/04/2005 07:12:00 PM
Filters work in a variety of different ways. Some work off of keywords (booooo) and some filter at the site level (somebody at the company level decideds y or n). Most systems will allow for the whitelisting (allow a blocked site) or blacklisting (dissallow an unblocked) of websites. Technically speaking, this should be very easy with whatever package your district is using.
Here's where your district's IT folks subjectivity comes in. In a "site level" model, we typically get the choice of "allow/dissalow" based on major categories. Choices typically range from "sexually explicit" (easy decision) to "job searching" (why would you?). It's the middle stuff that mixes people up. Drugs. Hate speech. Entertainment.
If it's your choice, do you err on the side of overprotection or underprotection? Good luck. There's no right answer. Personally, I swing pretty far to the left...let the drug stuff come through, depend on teachers to monitor, hopefully the internet safety training works. We've had relatively few requests to unblock sites.
Basically, if there's a question in our district, email me (the tech director). I make an immediate decision based on my best judgement and then put it to a self-selected group of folks for a vote. If I'm at all doubtfull of either a) my opinion or b) the groups opinion, final veto goes to the superintendent. It's a quick process, sort of democratic, and it gets the job done with minimal fuss.
Two last (semi-related) points.
1) I live in a relatively liberal area. Your milage may vary. :o) I worked closely with fairly liberal library/media folks to develop these procedures. Interestingly, these are the same people that I recently get roasted from about whether Wikipedia is right or not. :O) Another topic for another time.
2) Bud...tell us what filtering software your district is using. I can tell you more specifics about how things are filtered and why if you can find this information.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Filtering Policies
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 10/04/2005 08:09:46 AM
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I understand the need/desire to filter the Web at schools. I also understand the desire to balance public appropriateness with the availability of and access to knowledge.
But I'm getting really tired of people with little or no knowledge of blogging and other Web 2.0 technologies blocking all such technologies first and forgetting to ask the questions later.
Does your school district have specific policies for what gets blocked, what doesn't and how you challenge such? If you want to keep or remove a book from a school in most Colorado school districts, there's a written policy to follow. It outlines very specifically what happens when something is challenged and what the criteria are for removal.
But when it comes to a website, it seems that IT people get to decide. When I've asked around in two northern Colorado school districts, I've been pointed to vague board policies, not specific criteria for what gets blocked and what doesn't. One district told me that they do have some criteria, but that they wouldn't share them with me.
How does it happen in your neck of the woods? At what point are we censoring and not filtering?
And why are we treating websites differently from books?
And why aren't we angry about this?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: TR
EMAIL: the_science_goddess@yahoo.com
IP: 69.29.193.34
URL: http://whatitslikeontheinside.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/04/2005 08:29:30 PM
I am also struggling with the "DIS" (Dep't. of Info Services) and this whole filter issue.
I think my salvation will be that all of the "good" programs are now going to be way out of their budget...so if they buy something, it will be crap.
The other thing that is starting to swing in my favour is that some of the admins are seeing that things like blogs have value. And now the admins are starting to ask some questions of DIS.
I really don't think that DIS should have the power to decide what types of sites are allowable. Kids and parents already have to sign a form stating they understand the "acceptable use policy." Why not just take off the filters and if a kid actively searches for porn, then they get their privileges revoked. Meanwhile, teachers should be monitoring students who are using computers.
Off with the filters!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 205.200.235.82
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 10/04/2005 07:38:12 PM
We are a small school in a forward looking (sometimes) district. We do not filter at all. Granted this is very unusual, and it certainly leads to interesting moments in the classroom sometimes, but we think it is better for kids to have full access to the web, in all its (sometimes) terrible glory. Then we can teach them. We can work with them. We can speak to them about the dark corners and the dangers that exist. If we don't who will be there when they are online at home and run into some of this stuff? Filtering, in my opinion, is one more way that schools separate themselves from reality.
I know it is probably not possible for you to do away completely with your filter system, but I wanted to share my experience with you.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sean Sharp
EMAIL:
IP: 66.37.64.6
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/seans/
DATE: 10/04/2005 02:37:22 PM
Bud--I've got a teacher here in SW Virginia who wants to use an IM program to do stuff in a lab. We're trying out a java program that is in-house only to do this, but it does limit what this teacher is trying to accomplish.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Fritz
EMAIL: richard@masoner.net
IP: 12.151.32.25
URL: http://www.cyclelicio.us
DATE: 10/04/2005 11:29:04 AM
We get the same thing in the corporate world -- the IT department determines what gets filtered. When there's a business case for accessing a website, response from the IT folks can be very slow. Since I'm a software developer me and everyone else in my group know how to work around the filters, but for most of the people in the company access issues are frustrating.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 10/04/2005 11:03:03 AM
Very cool. Sounds like you've achieved something that we desperately need. Are there any filtering policies on record in your district that you can share?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 207.195.51.204
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/04/2005 10:51:47 AM
Bud,
Our school district http://www.mjsd1.ca is trying out a content filtering system. It's benefits are caching a number of sites locally for speedy access and also the ability to filter out sites and keywords.
Our IT department is very clear on its role. The remind us they DO NOT create policy, they only attempt to enforce it. Teachers recommend policy for board approval. In terms of filtering, this system comes with a template but can be altered depending on teacher needs. THankfully, the teacher committee is well aware of web 2.0 and its implications and try to limit the number of restrictions and filters.
It's a delicate balance, one that needs to be addressed but clearly defined roles is important along with knowledgeable, forward thinking people in those roles. Fortunately, these things are in place for us.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: In Other News
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 10/04/2005 08:02:17 AM
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It's hard to type with only 9.82 fingers. Last night, I had a run in with one of those fancy vegetable choppers. Ended up in the ER until 2am last night because the bleeding wouldn't stop. I counted myself very fortunate as I listened to the stories of others who needed medical and psychological care far more urgently than I.
It's a minor injury, but it sure is hard to type with my left thumb in a huge gauze bandage. Have I ever mentioned that I am left handed?
Homemade French fries just aren't worth it. I'm sure, in a few days, I'll feel differently.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 10/06/2005 09:01:57 PM
You're lucky you didn't die in the ER. Having taken my child to the ER, it seems that the wait, itself, can be terminal...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.63.72
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/05/2005 07:29:02 AM
Ahhhh --- the good old-fashioned mandoline injury.
I definitely empathize. Have, over the years, performed a variety of amateur surgeries on various of my digits, some actually involving gasoline- or electric-power tools.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 142.161.96.146
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/04/2005 09:43:42 PM
Ouch! Is your finger going to heal completely?
Be Well.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Some Thoughts on Writing Across the Curriculum
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 09/27/2005 11:26:47 PM
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Posting a new podcast tonight that's a reflection and a brainstorm on some thoughts on writing across the curriculum. The show's also a request for information: How are you creating classroom and school-wide environments that support writing in every classroom? If you're not doing that, why not?
Link from the Show
Darren Kuropatwa's Blog
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alex Ruthmann
EMAIL: aruthmann@cranbrook.edu
IP: 12.159.57.2
URL: http://www.cranbrookcomposers.com
DATE: 10/07/2005 12:00:33 PM
Hi Bud,
I'm of two minds when it comes to making all teachers write across the curriculum. I come at this with the perspective of an arts teacher. The content we teach is generally non-verbal. In visual art and music, we teach students to think and express visually and through sound. When school administrators make arts teachers take time out of their already short contact time to engage students in writing assignments, there is less time to focus on helping students develop their authentic musical thinking and expression skills - skills which are core to music as a domain. Yes, musicians and artists use language to communicate, but that is subordinate to learning how to craft sound and visuals to express.
I don't mean to come across as anti-writing. I'm far from that. In fact, in my music classes, I encourage my students to keep reflective journals and have them blog about their music. However, I have them do these things OUTSIDE of class time. That's one of the reasons I set up a blog in the first place - as an opportunity to take the obligitory writing across the curriculum component out of my class time, and into my students' personal time.
Maybe it's only a problem near where I am, but I really have a problem with school writing across the curriculum projects that make the arts teachers take time out of class - away from their subject area - to write. I am all for developing literate students, but not at the expense of other equally valid ways of knowing, engaging, and expressing the world - especially the arts.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cassandra Steele
EMAIL: csteele1@sbcglobal.net
IP: 69.212.56.167
URL:
DATE: 10/03/2005 11:10:03 AM
Writing-It’s not scary. Teaching writing in the classroom today requires innovative thinking on the part of the educator. Some educators do this with little to no effort. While others may have to put a great deal of thought and process into bringing writing into their classroom instructional delivery. Many aspects of the literacy foundation for students are taught in isolation to the curriculum. Not a terrible thing per say. Yet, connecting the dots (writing across the curriculum) is a very challenging task to bring continuity to. In my humble opinion, all teachers need to be educators of literacy first. This would allow them to better understand the reading and the writing within their respective disciplines. For some educators, this may be an arduous task to do while ensuring they have covered the topics that students are suppose to know. My thought is that educators can no longer continue to teach their respective disciplines in total isolation of all other disciplines. The approach would be to break-up the pie into smaller pieces. Ideally, teachers could be come proficient at the instructional delivery of the writing style suited for their particular discipline. Even if the social studies teachers focus on expository writing style in their classrooms that would greatly benefit students. The Language Arts people within the school can provide support and mentoring to align and help fill in the holes, if that is possible. As one writer wrote, “To know it, read it, To learn it, write it, To master it, teach it.”
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropawa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 205.200.110.54
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/28/2005 10:38:54 AM
Two thoughts:
(1) English teachers Read, Write, Think. Bloggers adjust that pardigm slightly -- Read, THINK, Write. A subtle but, I think, profound difference.
(2) "Reading is the input, writing is the output." I like that! It sounds like me teaching my classes about functions (inputs and outputs). Now I've got a new example to use when I teach functions; thanks Bud!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jo McLeay
EMAIL: jmmcl1@student.monash.edu.au
IP: 144.132.52.7
URL: http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/28/2005 04:26:16 AM
Hi, Bud,
just listened to your podcast on integrating writing into the curriculum. Couldn't agree with you more about writing being simply communication. Here in my state of Victoria the authorities have introduced VELS the Victorian Essential Learning Standards and these standards mandate writing as well as thinking and technology being taught across the curriculum. It's an idea that certainly makes sense. I think you're right about people lack of confidence based on the "one correct answer" view or one right way of education that prevailed in the past. BTW, my experiemnts into the use of the IWB are continuing apace. I'll probably post about that in the future.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I've Been Quiet . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 09/27/2005 04:14:17 PM
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. . . because we've been doing lots of hard work here at my high school. I've been grading lots of papers via Moodle, recording new podcasts for the Colorado State University Writing Project podcast feed, and working to prepare an inservice that I'm doing with some of my fellow writing project teachers. Oh -- and teaching propaganda techniques to my writing students.
We've also been talking a great deal about writing across the curriculum at my school. It's a subject that sometimes makes me uncomfortable.
I know how essential it is that students become able and eager readers and writers, regardless of what they want to do after high school. But since I'm a language arts teacher, the culture supports that writing occurs in my class.
My colleague, Jason, a science teacher in a neighboring school district, has his students do a ton of reading and writing. But I think a lot of teachers consider his approach novel. Of course, it's easy to find excuses for why writing isn't important in a particular subject area.
But it is. Writing is essential in all of them. Cassandra has an interesting comment on the subject.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE:
STATUS: Draft
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DATE: 09/26/2005 08:41:37 AM
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http://mt.middlebury.edu/middblogs/ganley/bgblogging/009714.html
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Math Chatter
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 09/24/2005 07:46:47 AM
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Darren's using some chat applets with the blogs that he uses in his math courses. He's got a post up walking us through some of what he's finding interesting. Well worth a read.
What I noticed as I scrolled through the conversations taking place in Darren's "classrooms" is that the students are using the chat features of the blogs to basically interact with their classmates at all hours of the day. Darren's really creating an online community -- one that asks questions of each other, shares ideas, and learns together.
Darren, who put the blogs together, is not the dominant voice in these digital spaces. And that's a good thing. The students are beginning to drive.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: TR
EMAIL: the_science_goddess@yahoo.com
IP: 69.29.202.100
URL: http://whatitslikeontheinside.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/25/2005 08:10:04 PM
This really sounds wonderful---and something that I'd like to see more of.
I think that we (educators) need to find more ways to reach kids where they live---including blogs and chat---as a way to increase student engagement.
I will be watching and cheering y'all on this year.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 09/24/2005 12:19:30 PM
What about you, Bud? Think this might be something you'd use? I'm trying to look at it from a Special Education perspective and haven't yet, figured out an application. Still scratching my head about it, though. I actually put it on my site, but pulled it after thinking a wait-and-see approach might be wise. I'm usually shoot first, ask questions later kinda guy, but getting wiser with age...hopefully! Think I will hide and watch on this one.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Coast to Coast & Filtering
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 09/23/2005 01:13:07 PM
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I've got a new favorite Coast to Coast.
(Don't worry, George, you and Art will always have a warm place in my heart.)
Ed Tech Coast to Coast, starring the Four Horsemen of the Ed Tech World, (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) is a solid show with interesting content. I suspect that, if you read my blog, you've already discovered the podcast, but I do think the show is worth a plug.
Their most recent podcast is about access to technology. An interesting listen. A couple of times when I was listening, I found myself shouting at my car speakers. Mostly, though, I found myself nodding my head in agreement. It's worth a listen.
Jim agrees with me, and raises a good point about Internet filters. One of our neighboring school districts blocks Blogger with their filter. That's a problem, as I'm trying to use a group blog to help maintain and build a community of writers involving their school district. Three teachers are eager to begin blogging -- but can't. One does not have a computer at home and she is blocked from using the site at school. For educational purposes. Another wishes to get a class going on a blogging project, but isn't sure if the district will permit him to do so.
I wrote an e-mail to the district's CIO a few days ago asking about their filtering policies. I have yet to receive a response. I cannot locate a written policy on the district's website.
I'll fill you in when I do.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Miguel Guhlin
EMAIL: mguhlin@yahoo.com
IP: 24.28.153.242
URL: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog
DATE: 09/27/2005 08:18:48 PM
How funny...I just posted to an email list on this very subject. The email list is composed of technology directors in Texas. We're also covering this topic at our Fall 2005 meeting; you can see the program online at http://www.tcea.org/tecsig
In short, we're in the middle of a revolution. Instead of being the torchbearers in the Cave allegory, we're the ones in the dark. By "we" I mean educational technologists in school districts who haven't quite "seen the light." And, it's not obvious. We all have to work at making the connection.
Longer post on this subject online at:
http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/archives/2005/09/entry_533.htm
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Charlene Chausis
EMAIL: cchausis@district125.k12.il.us
IP: 67.162.42.50
URL: http://www.novemberlearning.com/blogs/cchausis/
DATE: 09/25/2005 01:18:50 PM
http://mustangblog.typepad.com/educationalweblogs/which_weblog_service_should_i_use/index.html
is a resource you can try for classroom alternatives.
Also, if you need a more protected site (which sort of takes away from the value of student-publishing), you can set up a free class account at gaggle.net for a student discussion board site.
And, are you aware of Nicenet? It is a service that calls itself an Internet Classroom assistant, that contains a discussion board, link sharing and assignments. Also Free! http://nicenet.org
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tim Wilson
EMAIL: tim@technosavvy.org
IP: 66.41.9.53
URL: http://technosavvy.org/
DATE: 09/25/2005 07:50:54 AM
Bob, if we had you yelling at your car speakers maybe we're ready for AM talk radio. :-)
I feel fortunate that my school district has a liberal filtering policy that allows access to Blogger and nearly all other sites like it. Keep up the good fight.
-Tim
(One of the four horsemen)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 70.113.63.72
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/24/2005 09:02:47 AM
And the Clark County School District, the fifth largest district in the nation (Las Vegas, NV, and surrounding county) also filters Blogger...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.27.35
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/24/2005 01:33:42 AM
At our school, it's even worse. Our filter blocks everything that has the word "blog" in it's URL or on its index page. And of course, even any use of this filtered version of the internet without the teacher physically standing over the kid's shoulder, is forbidden by our "Acceptable Use Policy."
Sad.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Accessible Online Scholarship
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 09/23/2005 01:03:18 PM
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Via a really interesting conversation at BuzzMachine, I discovered the Directory of Open Access Journals. Looks like a big collection of peer-reviewed content that is all available for no cost. Anyone find it useful? Despise it?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogging 102
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 09/17/2005 05:53:39 PM
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I met today with the fine folks of last summer's Colorado State University Writing Project Summer Institute. It was nice to check in with everyone and see what they've been up to since our month of intensive professional development this summer.
Perhaps the best part of our meeting today was that I was given the opportunity to do some intensive blogvangelism. I'm pleased to share that every member of our group created a blog and opened a Bloglines account. We'll be working to build a community over the year in order to keep track of the work that we're doing in our different schools, cultures, and contexts.
Here's the "script" for today's presentation. I hate days when I'm forced to go through a process by someone who insists that we all are on the same screen at the same time -- so I tried to do something better. I think it worked.
Check the comments for links to the new blogs. I'll post highlights over the next few weeks as a way to introduce you to these amazing teachers.
Several folks asked to participate in a "Blogging 103" workshop to be held at some future date.
Kool-Aid all around!
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AUTHOR: Art Guy
EMAIL: TheArtGuy@gmail.com
IP: 141.157.14.161
URL: http://www.academicaesthetic.com/
DATE: 09/24/2005 05:16:03 PM
Bring on the Kool Aid!( http://www.flickr.com/photos/theartguy/sets/343391/ )
But seriously, you've got a cool projet here. Now if I can just get one of my Principals to give me some time with the staff in the computer lab, I can do something like this as well ...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.171
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 09/19/2005 08:36:52 PM
Mmmm. Kool-Aid.
I'm interested in your thoughts...both now and later on down the road. There are a few posts in the edublogosphere that talk about the "chicken/egg" scenario. I got the feeling after my round of blogvangelizing this summer that most teachers wanted to jump straight to the writing part (Blogger) and wanted little to do with the reading part (Bloglines).
I know that I spend 90% of my time reading, 10% writing/commenting. It's an incredible time committment...one that I don't need to explain here! ;O) While I'm hooked, I wonder what others are seeing as blogvangelists. Is there an effective way get the point across that most of this is about reading and "living" in it? How do you describe "it"?
"The weird stuff that just ties this stuff together and makes it really cool...just trust me that you will figure it out." I use the Cluetrain quote "It's like trying to explain rock and roll." Close, but not convincing. Thoughts?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 142.161.36.246
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/18/2005 10:31:28 AM
Fantastic workshop in a great format. I learn just by watching you my friend. You're still one of my favourite teachers. ;-)
Bravo!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kyle Foley
EMAIL: kylefoley202@mail.com
IP: 68.67.255.152
URL: http://laurahamilton.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/18/2005 08:16:19 AM
Today's podcast is a reflection on a writing assignment that I'm currently working through with my 10th grade writing course. The project involves creating character sketches of fictitious students that might go to our school, and then using those characters to tell stories about our school, all in the pursuit of truth via fiction. Sound confusing? Well, yeah. It is. That's why I'm reflecting on how it's going. Please share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns here!
in the pursuit of truth via fiction? and yet is not the goal of literature to teach truth, to illuminate clandestine reality’s, to expose fraudulent fallacy, to speak, to breath, perchance to uplift the reader into a new ivory dimension, rife with new insights into the oblique nothing, new stratagems, new flash-flows of thought? do we not read to consider, to ponder, to seek out new worlds previously unthought of or unexplored? some writing satiates our lust for justice such crime novels, some such as romantic comedies satisfy our urge to see a couple overcome the human rhinos against them and thus they unite in matrimonia and yet do we learn anything from these harlequin novels? zilch! fume!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogging 101 -- The Newspaper Column
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Coloradoan
CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 09/13/2005 10:45:00 AM
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Here's an entry into the Blogging 101 category -- the latest installment of my "On Writing" column for the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
Blogging gives students real audiences
By Bud Hunt
Students today have access to a
huge network of writing and publishing tools via the Internet. And, to borrow a line from Martha Stewart,
that’s a good thing.
If you can send e-mail, and I am
guessing that many of you can, you can publish your writing online for the
world to see. This is great news for
students who wish to communicate their thoughts and ideas to others in their
communities or to students in other states or even half way across the world. It’s even better news for teachers, as we
know that there’s no better tool for improving writing than a real, non-teacher
audience for the students’ work. The
Internet, via weblogs or blogs, provides just such an opportunity.
According to Dave Winer, a blogger
since 1997, a blog is “the unedited voice of a person.” More specifically, a blog is a collection
of posts written for online publication. Blogs and bloggers cover almost all possible topics, from hurricane
disaster relief to creative writing pieces to dealing with candy
addiction.
Blogs are more and more becoming
first stops for those looking for news or information on the Internet. In the classroom and at home, blogs are
tools that students can use in order grow as writers and responsible citizens
in the digital world. At school, blogs
are not yet essential curricular tools, but they will be. While schools are still learning where
blogging fits into the curriculum, students are flexing their digital muscles
after school.
There are
several free sites out there that you can use to start a blog. Perhaps the best known of these is
Blogger. After a five-minute
registration, you can post your writing directly to the Internet. Many students use free websites like
Myspace, Xanga, and LiveJournal to tell stories about their lives,
share musical influences, and write about and discuss just about every topic
that you could possibly think of. On
their blogs, students are talking about the war in Iraq, how to help in the
aftermath of Katrina, and who the cutest kids are in class.
To get
started, try reading some blogs to get a feel for the genre. Perhaps the best way to do this is to use a
search engine that specifically searches blog posts. Two useful ones are Technorati and Icerocket. Try searching for a topic that you are
interested in and see what others have to say.
The
Internet is a big place – there might be some content out there that you find
objectionable. However, the vast
majority of bloggers are interested in opinions and viewpoints and good
writing. They will welcome you as you
begin to comment on their blogs and, preferably, starting your own.
Blogging allows students to both
practice their writing and to have a connection to the real world that exists
outside of the classroom. Interested in
astronomy? Start writing about and
linking to interesting astronomy websites. Along the way, you’ll meet others interested in astronomy and begin to
have conversations with them about your passion for starts and supernovas. You’ll also be taking control of your
learning in a powerful way that was unavailable to students just ten years
ago.
Because they contain hyperlinks,
blogs are a great way to visualize and show in practice how ideas connect to each
other.
Parents have an essential
responsibility and privilege to stay up on what their students are writing and
thinking about. They should even be
regular readers of their child’s blog – both to learn about what learning is
going on but also to become a partner in that learning. Because blogs are
public, parents should also read to make sure that students are protecting
themselves by not sharing too much personal information online – phone numbers
and home addresses are probably a no-no. Families should sit down together to review family Internet policies and
privacy concerns.
Of course,
parents can and maybe should start their own blogs to provide a positive model
for writing with their children. Ask
your child if you need help getting started. They might just already know how. One estimate says that teenagers are responsible for more than half of
the sixteen million blogs current online.
That’s a
lot of writing.
Bud Hunt is a board member of the Colorado State University
Writing Project. He blogs at http://www.budtheteacher.com.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 09/26/2005 04:16:31 PM
It originally ran on September 8th.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
EMAIL:
IP: 24.8.38.195
URL:
DATE: 09/24/2005 04:12:35 PM
Hey there,
What day did this run? I'd like to print it to give to parents with the blog permission letter, but I want to cite it accurately.
Megan F.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: cheayee
EMAIL: cheayee@gmail.com
IP: 218.208.236.76
URL: http://www.casadelbambino.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/18/2005 10:41:11 AM
Hi. This is just to tell you that I linked your site to my blog.
Casa Del Bambino.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Good Writing, the Truth, and Fiction
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 09/07/2005 09:54:46 PM
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Today's podcast is a reflection on a writing assignment that I'm currently working through with my 10th grade writing course. The project involves creating character sketches of fictitious students that might go to our school, and then using those characters to tell stories about our school, all in the pursuit of truth via fiction. Sound confusing? Well, yeah. It is. That's why I'm reflecting on how it's going. Please share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns here!
Links mentioned in the podcast:
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AUTHOR: Mr. McNamar
EMAIL:
IP: 168.212.234.19
URL: http://ahighcall.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/12/2005 11:09:00 AM
Bud, thanks for all of the great thinking and creating that goes on here. I'd also like to say thanks for taking the time to follow the link to my former student's blog and leaving a comment to encourage her. It is a sign of a true educator!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Ram Fan
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 09/07/2005 09:44:35 PM
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We lost the game, but the CSU Rams have a new fan.
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AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jimtchr@gmail.com
IP: 69.234.35.52
URL: http://classroombiz.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/07/2005 10:52:54 PM
Handsome fellow! Looks quick, like a wide receiver!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: New Orleans Writing Marathon
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 09/06/2005 03:23:06 PM
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Tracy's posting writing from the annual New Orleans Writing Marathon, sponsored by the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project. Stop by and check out what's posted so far. If you've written at the retreat, head on over and share your work.
Stay tuned for a virtual New Orleans Writing Marathon, says Tracy.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Quick Note
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 09/05/2005 07:28:35 PM
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Nancy, a friend of the blog and the blogger, is okay.
Whew.
Unfortunately, so many others are not. Words are not enough.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Game Time!
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 09/03/2005 01:11:53 PM
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In 20 minutes, it begins. CU vs. CSU. Bragging rights are at stake here.
I work in Longmont, in the shadow of CU. But I make my home, both personally and professionally, at Colorado State. (Class of '01, if you were curious.)
Go Rams!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 09/03/2005 05:55:49 PM
Go Irish!
:)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast -- Darren & Me & Wikis
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 09/02/2005 01:21:50 PM
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Waaaaay back last Spring, Darren and I recorded a podcast discussing our use of wikis in the classroom. We talked for quite a while about what we were doing, what we wanted to do, and why we thought they might be useful classroom tools. Then we both got busy with our summers and the other stuff that we had going on.
Now, we present to you the podcast. I've learned an awful lot about recording since then. An awful lot. (Hint, hint. Sorry. It's worth the few rough spots, though. Honest.)
We'd love your feedback on wikis in the classroom, the podcast, or whatever strikes your fancy. We're cross-posting, so leave feedback here, or there.
Show Notes (Thanks, Darren!)
BPRIME Wiki
Wiki Confluence and a Brilliant Blog Concept
Pre-Cal 40S Wiki Notebook
Brian Lamb, Learning Objects, Wikis, Flickr, RSS-- They Wanted it All (No Fooling) (Alan's Post)
Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not (Brian's Article at Educause)
Bud's Blogging Experiment Wiki
Elle's Experimental Expedition
Student Blogging Rules
Student Dude Blog
Student Blogging Questions
Blogging Prompts
Meta Wiki
The Teachers' Lounge Wiki
Rob's Blog
Google Search for choose your own adventure
Is Blogging a Habit? Should It Be?
Email us: Darren or Bud
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Moodlefreak
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Moodle
DATE: 09/01/2005 11:19:15 PM
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I can't say enough good things about Moodle. (For now at least -- but I know that technology folks are somewhat fickle -- there'll be another development or two down the road that will be the next big thing. Maybe I'll eventually start to like Manilla or something. Will sure does.)
We've been using Moodle at our school to help teach a course on literature and composition. I found a way around our recent computer woes (basically, we're using every spare machine that we find.), and so Moodle is becoming a routine for my students. We've worked through the first round of password problems and tutorials and the students are beginning to get some work done.
Some time soon, I'll tell you about how we're using the journal module to facilitate the writing, collection, and assessment of papers in the class. The short version is that, if students save often, they never lose a paper, we get regular check ins with every kid, and they have their work available to them anywhere and anytime. And so do I.
But right now I want to mention two other uses for Moodle that are percolating in my head at the moment. I know what you might be thinking -- when you give a guy a hammer, all of his problems begin to look like nails. But I think Moodle is different -- there're so many options that I think it can work in lots of situations. I'm sure there are other content management systems that are just as versatile and just as user friendly -- but I don't know about them. Yet. (Although Drupal might be one. Tell me if I'm wrong.)
One use I'm thinking about is one that I think Will has mentioned before (yup -- here's his post) -- using Moodle as a kind of e-portfolio system. My school's language arts team met to day to discuss several issues -- one that came up is that we need a good way to both show and document student growth in writing over time. We keep portfolios, but they're paper and not as user-friendly as I would like. Plus, when the kid leaves, the portfolio stays behind. Moodle seems like one possible solution for solving some of our struggles.
The second use that I've been thinking about is for professional development. I'm facilitating a year long professional development opportunity on writing with two colleagues. Over the course of a year, our group will only meet five times face to face -- but a Moodle will increase our interaction time, because it will be a place to share ideas and to store the content that we create together.
These uses aren't revolutionary. But the ease with which I can create resources, share them, and maintain them is. I built the skeleton of an online course in about an hour tonight. Without writing a single line of code. Four hours before that I was sitting in the meeting where we decided to try it out.
That's astounding to me. Is this one of the areas I should be focusing my master's thesis on? Or should I look at my attempt to create a hyperlocal journalism site for our community?
How cool is it that these are my potential questions?
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AUTHOR: DW
EMAIL:
IP: 129.33.1.37
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/dweir/
DATE: 09/08/2005 08:28:53 AM
Thank you for sharing this information! Do you know of any repositories/sites where users share the material they have developed or exchange ideas on use?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dan
EMAIL: danmcdowell@cox.net
IP: 68.6.254.160
URL: http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/blog
DATE: 09/07/2005 06:08:15 AM
I kive Moodel too! I actually had it ready to use this year, but something corrupted and wouldn't let me log in. I eventually fixed it, but decided to put off using it with kids until we are about half way through the year. it is a great CMS. I've done a lot of research and for use with students, there is nothing better. Drupal. Post-Nuke, Xoops, etc. are good and have their advantages, but Moodle has so much that is easily configured and asssesable. Soon there will be a blog feature that will really make Moodle my dream CMS.
Good luck! You will probably see a Moodle post from me down the line.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Principally Speaking
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/31/2005 09:49:09 PM
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Got principal approval today to run with the idea of an online school newspaper. That site is, I think, going to be the basis for a community hyperlocal site. Eventually.
The principal 's very supportive of what we do, and I'm grateful. Had a great conversation with him about my plans. As a bonus, I discovered that my principal's son is a blogger.
I knew I liked him.
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AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.27.141
URL: http://www.educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/01/2005 07:48:02 PM
Congratulations! I wish that we could get some of that out here in too-conservative NoWhere, California.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lisa Williams
EMAIL: lisa@cadence90.com
IP: 146.115.58.193
URL: http://h2otown.info
DATE: 08/31/2005 09:53:12 PM
Wow, excellent!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: First Day of (Hyperlocal) Journalism
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 08/26/2005 01:23:16 PM
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I've got eight students in my Journalism course. They seem receptive to the idea that we can cover Longmont better than any other news source. On Monday, they return with their first story ideas. We spent today examining some hyperlocal sites out there that we might model ours after. If we create our own, that is. At first, I didn't want to create a website -- I wanted to use someone else's. But then I started fiddling around with some tools and realized how easy it can be.
Of course, there are advantages to participating in larger community projects. Could we submit original work to our site and to another one, though? Could we still participate in sharing news with others in other venues? Would there be copyright problems? Does being a school change the rules at all?
Just thinking my way into the weekend. If you know the answers, or have hunches, feel free to share them.
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AUTHOR: Lisa Williams
EMAIL: lisa@cadence90.com
IP: 146.115.58.193
URL: http://h2otown.info
DATE: 08/28/2005 02:04:03 PM
Oops, no embedded URLs: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/localnewsapalooza/
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
EMAIL:
IP: 146.115.58.193
URL:
DATE: 08/28/2005 02:02:56 PM
Hello, Bud, this is Lisa Williams from H2otown.info. I really love watching sites like Yourhub.com and Wikinews, but I still chose to have my own weblog.
I chose Drupal as the underlying tool, because it allows me to configure it so that everybody who signs up for an account gets a blog of their own. When they post to their blog, I can choose to promote that post to the front page (or not). Basically, it has built-in editorial workflow and is designed for sites with many content creators. I use Wordpress for my personal weblog and I like it a lot. I hear they are coming out with a multiuser version someday, that will be pretty cool.
So that I wouldn't spend all of my time fiddling around with the backend database, I chose a hosted Drupal provider called Bryght.net. They're also behind Urbanvancouver.org and the fabulous Blufftontoday.com.
I run a mail list for people interested in local news weblogs to trade tips You can sign up here: Localnewsapalooza. Remember to introduce yourself when you sign up!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 64.223.54.66
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 08/28/2005 03:49:03 AM
Yeah, I never got the "yourhub" idea. Use a blog.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Time for a Poem
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 08/26/2005 01:13:15 PM
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Megan Freeman was one of the teachers in this summer's CSUWP group. She's become a blogger since then, posting regularly to her poetry blog. Yesterday, she posted this poem on the CSUWP group blog. It made my day. Heck, probably my week. Read and enjoy. I think this one should probably be a podcast.
Infection
I am going to breathe verbs
all over your chair
and pour beakers of adjectives
on all the desktops.
I am going to rub the pencil sharpener
with nouns no paper can resist
and hang contagious phrases from the ceiling.
Your notebooks will run a fever
and your pens will bleed dry
in an effort to keep up with your
Brilliant Ideas.
Don’t bother washing your hands.
Antibiotics and tincture of echinacea
will only encourage me while
lowering your resistance.
This epidemic is airborne
spit-borne
piss-and-vinegar borne
and it doesn’t matter
what kind of immunity
you’ve built up
over years and years of
swimming around in
educational Petri dishes
because we are quarantined
and this condition is permanent
and the date to drop the class
was yesterday.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast: Moodle, Hyperjournalism, and Today, Tomorrow?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Journalism
CATEGORY: Moodle
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 08/23/2005 10:55:41 PM
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It's been a while since a podcast. Today's offering is a little bit about Moodle, a little bit more about hyperjournalism in my classroom, and a thank you to David Warlick for something that I'm not even sure he meant to do. Oh -- and my daughter has a brief speaking part. Enjoy.
The links I promised in the podcast:
- Moodle
- YourHub.com
- Mr. Sizer's blog
- David Warlick's Connect Learning (The particular episode I'm talking about is here. For some reason, my iPodder only caught it a few days ago, but it was published in late July.)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 09/06/2005 06:17:27 AM
Wow! I got a link. Now I just need to get an iPod so I can find out why. Hopefully it wasn't "and this guy is really annoying".
Susan (and anyone else thinking of setting up this sort of thing), the most important thing, which is often forgotten or skipped because it's so tedious: BACKUP!
If your server, no matter where it's located, gets struck by lightening - and your ISP is a vulnerable as your school - you cannot lose your data.
It's easy to become complacent, so try to automate the process. When I worked from home, every Sunday morning I'd burn backup CDs (five of them - I need a DVD burner). These days, I do it only once a month or so. But every night an automatic process copies stuff between computers so a single failure won't lose anything - lightening will drop me back to the last CD.
BTW: Don't forget to do this with your digital pictures, too.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan Sedro
EMAIL: ssedro@mac.com
IP: 24.118.246.111
URL: http://ssedro.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/28/2005 09:03:07 PM
Bud, Thanks for another great pod cast-- loved hearing a bit of commentary from your daughter (c;
I appreciate that you are ahead of me in technology, so often you are doing what I'm just starting to think about. For example, I'd heard the Open Source show on hyperlocal journalism, but hadn't gotten my brain around how to use it with fifth graders. Now I can watch what you do with older kids and learn from that.
My new district is far, far from cutting edge in technology. I won't have access to Filemaker Pro for constructing surveys and such. No student email accounts, etc, so I'm looking for options, and can't leap into blogging right from the start, since I must build a case for it and get district approval.
I've been staring at Moodle since both you and Will Richardson keep mentioning it. I've poked around in their web site quite a bit, but haven't dived into the forums-- I'm supposed to be unpacking, organizing my home, and getting ready for a new job that starts tomorrow, so I didn't indulge in the forums. If you have time, I'd appreciate having a few questions answered so I can figure out if Moodle will work for me.
1. I have no SQL experience. I have a .Mac account. I can purchase web space from one of my ISPs, but they haven't replied to my questions about feasibility of installing it on my space. Can I install it on my .Mac account?
Will I probably need to purchase extra .Mac space?
We have a web server at school. I think it is running Novell-- or doesn't that make sense? Could it sit on there? Approximately how much space does it need? I realize that depends upon how much you do with it, but what is an estimate for one teacher, two classes, underuse?
Do I need to install SQL on the server, be it .Mac, school or my ISPs? Would I be doing this via ftp for .Mac or my ISP?
And most importantly, if I want to keep it simple, not add bells and whistles right now, can I realistically do this without knowledge of SQL or server management?
Thanks for any knowledge you can share.
Susan
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scott Merrick
EMAIL: scott@scottmerrick.net
IP: 66.255.65.29
URL: http://scottmerrick.net
DATE: 08/26/2005 09:10:59 AM
Love your podcast and listen always. I have a relatively new one at http://snacks4thebrain.blogspot.com and would love for you to give it a listen. The Kathy Schrock interview might be a good one to share with your listeners! I, too, am having difficulty getting set up with iTunes and I will co-opt (it's sort of like folk music, isn't it, this web-sharing of knowledge and skill) your directions for itunes subscription. Didn't know you could drag the button in!
Cheers, and keep up the great work!
Scott
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kipling
EMAIL:
IP: 210.128.172.66
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/kipling/
DATE: 08/25/2005 04:32:08 AM
Thanks, Bud. Am now subscribed. Weee!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 08/24/2005 06:14:35 AM
iTunes, for some reason, deleted me a while back -- still working through their service department to get that fixed. In the meantime, you can drag the orange subscribe button into your iTunes window to subscribe, or you can enter the feed URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/budtheteacher
Thanks!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sean
EMAIL: techmonk@mac.com
IP: 66.37.82.13
URL: http://seans.typepad.com
DATE: 08/24/2005 04:30:29 AM
Have a great start to your year Bud! Thanks for the podcast~
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: kipling
EMAIL:
IP: 210.128.172.66
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/kipling/
DATE: 08/24/2005 01:08:20 AM
Cool. Is there a way to subscribe to your podcast via iTunes, without manually downloading each one? If so, how? What's the RSS feed?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Transparency
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Teacher Research
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 08/22/2005 09:38:16 PM
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I don't know yet if I like Doug's model for teaching transparently, but I like the philosophy. I just don't know if publishing my lesson plans is a useful way to be transparent. (His handouts section is a winner, though.)
Steve Burt also mentions transparency (and administrative nervousness about it) in a recent Ed Tech Insider post. Lots of good questions about podcasting and its future in the classroom. Anybody got answers yet?
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AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 4.225.245.157
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 08/23/2005 05:59:57 AM
I'd say that administrative control over what goes out over the school's web page has its place; every school has its own culture and anything visible to the public is usually inline with a particular school's culture.
However, coming from a school district in which some tools ahve been banned by an overreaching blanket solution, perhaps there should be periodic reviews put in place to re-evaluate resources that have been blocked, or how to best use new resources before they are blocked.
As for podcasting, why is everyone focused on how instructors can use it in their teaching? What about student podcasting? Would plays, audio-dramas, and other projects they record on a computer be appropriate for school web sites? We display student work around the community in the form of exhibitions and contests, so why not open up their efforts to everyone via the web, giving them a more authentic audience?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Doug Noon
EMAIL: dwnoon@gmail.com
IP: 24.237.141.23
URL: http://borderland.northernattitude.org/
DATE: 08/23/2005 12:31:39 AM
You got me, man. I don't know how I feel about it, either. Didn't exactly think of it as a model but I'll accept that it could be. I felt kind of, uh, exposed for a while, and that feeling was passing until you pointed to my post ;) but I always appreciate the chance to test a philosophy against real world conditions. So, thanks for the link. One of the things that I did (yesterday) was to find a style sheet that stripped off most of the wiki features to make the site a little less visitor-friendly. It still works like a wiki (minus comments at the moment) but it has the built-in navigation bar hidden right now. I like the handouts feature, too.
As to the other matter about administrative nervousness, I am getting very tired of oversight and filtering - especially the incomprehensible filtering of certain websites from our district's server. Their paternalistic web publishing guidelines apply only to their servers, which doesn't affect me. But I half expect to discover one day that I've been blocked from my own website while I'm at work. When new technology standards are developed, I hope that freedom of expression is addressed. Monolithic control is antithetical to today's climate. We, anyone, can find ways to work around it.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The New Media Model
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 08/22/2005 09:26:58 PM
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Ask and ye shall receive:
A reader from Longmont asked whether there's an RSS feed for my
blog. Frankly, I didn't know. Now there is, thanks to the question from
Bud Hunt. Thank you Bud.
There's a link at the bottom of the page now that says add this blog
to your RSS reader. Hope others find this helpful. We'll do the same
for all blogs.
Thanks, Mr. Temple.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Problem and Solution . . .and problem
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Moodle
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 08/22/2005 09:04:59 PM
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Today was the first official day back at school for me. We had some major renovation work done over the summer, and there was a possibility that we might not be ready in time for the school year to start (students report on Wednesday).
Unfortunately, it looks like we both won't be ready, and we won't be delaying the start of the school year. There's nothing I like more than being unprepared AND required to move forward anyway. It was nice, though, to enter my own classroom for the first time. (One of the big additions in this renovation was a classroom for me.) Pretty cool.
One of the courses that I'll be team teaching this quarter is a literature and composition course. We'll be studying literature of and from the Vietnam War. (If you have suggestions for must reads, please share them.) I've convinced my partner teacher to use Moodle for the course. We were going to have students respond to some prompts on a class blog -- but a discussion board seems a more appropriate tool for that task. We'll still be using the blog for course news and other stuff. I think.
The solution I'm referencing in the title of this prompt is a potential one based on my limited experience with Moodle that seems to make a lot of sense . . . in theory. First -- the problem.
I teach at an alternative high school for at-risk students. (Yes -- most if not all students fall into this category at one point in their lives -- but we still use the label.) The students frequently complete assignments but never turn them in. I believe most of them when they say they worked on a piece of writing -- but we have no proof to verify their stories and, more importantly, none of their writing to use to help them improve.
I think Moodle can solve this problem. You Moodlers out there tell me if I'm right.
Suppose you're a teacher and you put all of your large writing assignments into a Moodle course as prompts. Then you require your students to work in Moodle to complete the assignment. The assignment would be editable until the due date, the work is all saved to the server, and I'd have a record of every single time a student worked (or didn't work) on a piece.
Cool. Big problem potentially solved. Pretty simply, too.
Now on to the second problem referenced in the title of this post. The mobile computer lab that we requested for our school was approved in June. As of today, it's still not ordered. The district computer folks are so backed up with work (there are too few of them and far too much to go around) that I shouldn't expect the lab until much later in the year. Maybe by Christmas.
We've got one lab in our school. Twenty computers. 120 students. And, thanks to the training that we did last year, more teachers want the lab to get their kids doing online or computer-based projects. I want kids on computers twice a week. Minimum.
So I don't think I can push Moodle too much, because I don't think I'll get computer time -- and many of my students don't have access at home. Problem.
So much for clever ideas.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 08/27/2005 10:22:08 AM
Case study in privacy!
Google "Bud Hunt" teacher Longmont school and you get the name of the school pretty fast - and lots of other interesting stuff, too.
Since HTML doesn't work in the comments, here's the ugly link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Bud+Hunt%22+Longmont+teacher+school&btnG=Search
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 195.182.77.65
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 08/23/2005 11:07:05 AM
Hey Bud,
I've always worked under similar situations, "at risk" wise and run into similar problems with access. There is a fault line between those who can take for granted that their students can get to a computer on their own and type and those who can't. Simply word processing and using the web tend to be derided as simplistic ways of using the web by people who take them for granted, but if you can't count on being able to do those things, you appreciate their value, and "one to one" computing has a different relevance.
Also, Fritz, if someone doesn't post the name of their school, and particularly if they're writing about "at risk" kids, it is probably not cool to offer the likely name of the school in comments.
Just sayin'.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Fritz
EMAIL: richard@masoner.net
IP: 12.151.32.25
URL: http://www.cyclelicio.us
DATE: 08/23/2005 10:29:02 AM
Bud,
I'm guessing you teach at Old Columbine on Sunset Ave? If that's the case, AMD is literally right across the street. It's a shot in the dark but perhaps you can ask them for help -- either donated equipment or donated IT time and help. SVVSD board member Merril Bohanning's husband, Terry, used to be the IT director at that location so perhaps he can point you to the right people to talk with.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Sappy -- Feel Free to Skip
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 08/18/2005 08:21:10 PM
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Today was move-in day for students living in the residence halls at my local university. Thanks to a fender bender, I had the opportunity to take a long look at students and parents moving in. Hit me hard -- I was one of those students nine years ago. It doesn't seem that long ago -- until I say the "nine years" part.
Since I started college, I've gotten my degree; produced, written and performed my way through a CD; met the right woman, gotten married, bought two houses (sold one), had a baby, and begun a career. That's a lot in nine years. But it all began on that campus with one scary weekend. Scary and exciting and wonderful and outstanding and all that and a whole bunch more. All Much of what I did in my time in college got me to where I am today.
As I watched folks move about and get excited, I remembered a news story I read a couple of days ago.
Based on recent trends, odds are that at least one of those students won't be alive at the end of the school year. And that's a lifetime of excitement and fear and hope and dreams that is far too important to lose.
Be careful, everybody. Teach people first, students and lessons second.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Simple, Elegant -- Too Easy?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 08/16/2005 05:10:20 PM
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Via TechLEARNing News:
Each teacher received a CD-ROM with all the essential information, including the "acceptable use policy" for city schools' computers, a technology section that tells teachers how to set up an e-mail account and how to use voice mail, and a section that tells them how to use the online program to input student grades, among other information.
What else could and should be digital AND searchable? Why isn't it?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogging in Word
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 08/16/2005 12:27:40 PM
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I've just installed Blogger for Word, a plug-in that allows me to use Word as a text editor for any of my Blogger blogs.
It's handy, useful and cool. And free. That passes all of my tests for new stuff.
Thanks, Dave, for the link.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amerloc
EMAIL: txmaddawg@hotmail.com
IP: 209.163.38.76
URL: http://kibblesnwhine.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/18/2005 10:11:15 AM
I loved the idea too, but when I went over there, I discovered that it won't work in Word on my Mac. So it's back to the copy-paste routine, and reformatting and reformatting...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Moodling
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Moodle
DATE: 08/15/2005 08:26:20 PM
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I've been a Moodler now for about five hours, give or take -- and I'm hooked. It's a little clunky design-wise, but so am I.
Wow. I can't wait to see where this stuff is in a year or two.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Weird
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 08/13/2005 04:05:03 PM
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Last night, I wrote about how I am thinking about using YourHub in my class next year. Today's Rocky Mountain News carries this editorial from the editor and publisher, John Temple:
The rules are looser on YourHub.com, especially online. The gate is open. It's your place.
In the minds of many journalists, that raises a picture of dread. Imagine the bad things people might do.
Well, I know only what's happened so far. And that is that people have respected the spirit of the venture.
While the structure may now be complete, I think of it a bit like a school awaiting its students.
It takes people to bring a building to life. If I have one wish
heading into this fall, it would be to hear the voices and see the
faces of our schools on YourHub.com.
In so many ways, our schools are the heart of our community. I hope YourHub.com is the place you'll go to feel its beat.
Weird how ideas converge from time to time. If I believed in signs, I'd think that this might be one.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 08/21/2005 11:41:59 AM
I think it's a horrible idea. Did you read the terms of service? They're insane. Think twice about this one.
Your comment thing is rejecting HTML (why?) so here's the link, in all its hideousness: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/archive.php?blogid=705
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Recommitment
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 08/13/2005 12:43:42 AM
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As Steve returns to the classroom, he's written a personal contract for himself. With a few minor edits, it serves as a good reminder for many of us. You should take a look.
I particularly like the balance of rigor for all and time for his family. That's a tough balance to strike -- I wish him, and myself, luck in that.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.171
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 08/13/2005 06:03:18 AM
Clarification...I should have put quotes around that stuff...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.171
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 08/13/2005 06:02:18 AM
I keep this piece from Hugh MacLeod in front of me as I try to "balance". :O)
http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/001635.html
We are hungry. Meaning is the prey.
That doesn’t mean we suddenly quit our accountant jobs and go back to film school, or give up selling real estate and start cranking out our first novel.
Some of us might, but not all. That would be far too predictable.
It means we’re starting to recognize that our work is just as much part of real lives as our evenings and weekends, that our jobs are not mere economic units that pay for “our real lives” outside the office.
Our jobs ARE our real lives, dammit, and we’re going to fight like hell to make sure that people recognize and respect this, not just our colleagues, but even sometimes ourselves.
We’re not quitting our jobs in droves to go open organic bakeries and internet startups because we’re too lazy to go get a real job in Corporate America. No, we’re leaving Corporate America because “real” is EXACTLY what we want our jobs to be.
Real to us.
And maybe we’ll stay within the corporate structure. Maybe we’ll just go find a better corporation. One that’s getting with the program. One that doesn’t take its own strength or its people for granted.
Or maybe we’ll just stay with the jobs we already have. Maybe the change that’s required just needs to happen silently, from within.
Maybe there’s more than one way to crack this nut. Maybe that’s what being creative is really all about.
We are turning off the TV. We are using the internet, reading books, attending museums, buying paint, taking night classes and purchasing art in unprecedented numbers. We suddenly feel alive and excited about life in a way that would have seemed crazy a generation ago.
We are learning to sing.
We are starting to write in record number. We have discovered blogs. 40,000 of us start new ones every day. Will it make money? Who cares? This isn’t about money; this is about getting our thoughts together.
Our thoughts are coming together because we are no longer asleep. We’re not even sleepy.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Hyperlocal Journalism
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 08/13/2005 12:27:16 AM
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I can't stop thinking about this episode of Open Source. In it, the topic of hyperlocal journalism is discussed. They point to Wikipedia's definition of hyperlocal:
In journalism, local news refers to news
coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of
interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or
international scope.
The term "hyperlocal" sometimes used to refer to news coverage of community-level events usually overlooked by mainstream media outlets.
On the show, they mention several good sites for hyperlocal coverage. I'd like to suggest that there's a real opportunity here for journalism students to participate in some really authentic journalism.
Why wouldn't a journalism class focus their efforts for a time on the events that they are in the best position to cover? I can see my students becoming content providers for Your Hub, a local citizen journalism site. Real audiences and reasons for writing for them, a useful service for the community.
More on this later.
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 08/21/2005 11:43:57 AM
Just to better the odds of it being seen, I'm going to repeat myself: The Service Agreement is nutty. Don't do it.
http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/archive.php?blogid=705
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tome McHale
EMAIL: tmchale@hcrhs.k12.nj.us
IP: 68.34.173.21
URL: http://tmchale.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/16/2005 02:17:22 PM
Good luck with the Your Hub project. I also teach journalism at the high school level and advise the newspaper as well. Knowing that they have a real audience makes a huge difference in the quality of work. It can also make kids realize the power of the press by having to deal with their own mistakes. I'll be watching your progress on this with interest.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.171
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 08/13/2005 05:53:18 AM
This was my first "ah ha" moment with hyperlocal journalism. Listen to this IT Conversations bit from Rob Curly of the Lawrence Journal World. The possibilities will blow you mind.
http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail550.html
http://www.ljworld.com/
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: How Newspaper Columns Should Look -- Because They Can
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Coloradoan
CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 08/13/2005 12:12:16 AM
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For the next three months or so, I'll be writing a monthly column on our community newspaper's education page. The focus of the column is on K-12 students and writing. I intend to write one piece on blogs. The first piece was on creative writing exercises that you can do in the grocery store. I asked if it would be possible to produce a hyperlinked version of the column to run at the same time as the print one.
The paper suggested that I wait a day and then run the hyperlinked version. Which made little sense to me, as I was hoping that a hyperlinked version of the piece would be more useful to those folks reading along who might want more information. But it's their paper, and I was fortunate to get the space. Below is the column as I submitted it with my hyperlinks. It seems to me like this is the direction that online journalism should take -- not a reproduction of the content that appears in the print version -- but an expanded version, with the ability to link content to research to other ideas to more content . . .
My high school journalism students will be writing like this. It's not a ton of links -- but they're helpful when they're there. Right?
Creative Writing Exercises Help Writers to Flex Their Muscles
Writing is
a tool that all students need in all classrooms and, more importantly, in their
lives. And schools and families both
have to help to make sure that students can write effectively by the time they
graduate from high school.
The
National Writing Commission, a group of educators and concerned others founded
by the College Board and chaired by Bob Kerrey, wrote in their first report to Congress on the status of writing in schools, that:
· The amount of time students spend writing . . .should
be at least doubled
· Writing should be assigned across the curriculum
· More out-of-school time should be also be used to
encourage writing, and parents should review students’ writing with them
Clearly, there is a lot to do, both
in and outside of the classroom. The
work does not have to be boring, though. Let’s start with a trip to the grocery store.
“If you don't have the time to
read, you don't have the time or the tools to write,” wrote Stephen King in his
book On Writing. Writers, the
good ones at least, don’t just read books. They read the world around them.
One of a writer’s best tools is her
skills of observation. Good writers
look deeply at everything and put those details and observations into their
writing. And there’s plenty to observe down
at the store. The grocery store has
everything a writer needs: people and
conflict. Ever waited in a long line
while the person in front of you counted out their thirty dollar purchase in
pocket change? That is one example of
conflict at the grocery store – I bet you can think of several more.
Next time you’re at the store, take the family, grab a notebook or an
index card, a pen or pencil or two, and give yourself an extra few minutes to
take a look around with a writer’s eye. Parents, if your children are too young to write, write for them. If they can write by themselves, keep your
own notebook and write with them. Creative writing can help you stretch those writerly muscles and get in
some writing practice. It can also be a
great family activity that everyone in the family can get involved with.
Writers notice things. Look and listen and smell and touch your way
through the store. Taste when
appropriate. The grocery store is full
of sensory information waiting to be captured in your notebook.
In addition
to using your senses, here are some things you might want to think about or pay
close attention to:
- That guy over by the soda. You see him. Who sent him to the store today? How do you know? And why does he have five packages of bologna in his cart?
- Pick five items at random from your shopping cart. Write a short piece that incorporates each of those objects. (No, you can’t write about the time you picked five items out of your shopping cart.)
- Many different groups use the grocery store as a place to sell things or share
information. Think of a group that would never show up in front of the grocery store. Write about what happens on the day that they do.
- Check the shopping carts at the front of the store. Has anything interesting been left behind? Describe what you see and imagine how it got there.
- Close your eyes in the bakery and breath in deeply. Write about what you smell and what it suggests to your mind.
- Visit the store on free sample day. As you taste different foods, think about what those tastes remind you of. Write about what you remember.
- The families that you see in the store all have colorful stories. Invent identities and backgrounds for them. Consider what would happen if you snuck over and added some items to their cart. You choose the items.
- At the checkout counter, look for a special treat that you wouldn’t normally buy. Write a letter convincing someone to buy it for you.
Enjoy your grocery store
adventure. Keep the good writing –
where else – on the refrigerator.
Bud Hunt teaches language arts in Longmont, Colorado and is a board member of the Colorado State University Writing Project. You can view a
hyperlinked version of this column, with more prompts and ideas, at his
website, http://www.budtheteacher.com.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Fritz
EMAIL: richard@masoner.net
IP: 12.151.32.25
URL: http://www.cyclelicio.us
DATE: 08/17/2005 02:39:09 PM
A great example of the type of creative writing you write about here is from another Longmont blogger, Jason Looney. His blog is at http://www.thelooneys.com/blogs/jason/default.aspx
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.114.100.48
URL:
DATE: 08/13/2005 09:16:49 AM
Bud,
Congratulations on the column! Some great ideas there. What's even greater, though, is that you have the oportunity to share your ideas with your community and with the whole world through your blog! I look forward to reading future columns!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Reflective Teacher
EMAIL: jmmcl1@student.monash.edu.au
IP: 144.132.52.7
URL: http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/13/2005 02:30:54 AM
Dear Bud,
this entry has some great ideas that I will be able to incorporate into my two middle school writing classes. These are electives for Years 9 and 10 (mixed). The students are between 14 and 16. I have written about these classes in my new blog http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
Thank you,
Jo from Oz
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PING:
TITLE: The Carnival of Education: Week 28
URL: http://ticklishears.com/?p=81
IP: 63.247.134.60
BLOG NAME: Ticklish Ears
DATE: 08/16/2005 10:29:09 PM
The Carnival has come to the North Carolina mountains! Welcome, one and all. I am grateful to EdWonk for allowing me this opportunity to host the Carnival. By the way, how do you like my specially-commissioned Carnival 28 artwork? It was provided ...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wordpress, thy name is . . .nifty
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 08/11/2005 09:54:35 PM
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Okay. So, after three hurdles, one distraction, and a deadline for another publication, I've gotten a good install of Wordpress going. I've wanted to play with it for a while - so now I'm playing.
Talk about the next level of learning for me . . .there's tons of options in there. Ideas and levels and concepts I've never considered or heard of. I've got an awful lot of discovery work to do.
And the school year starts in two weeks thirteen days.
Gulp.
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AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jwenzloff@misd.net
IP: 64.88.81.109
URL:
DATE: 08/12/2005 06:38:44 AM
Bud,
I will be interested in seeing what you do with Wordpress. I just installed a copy of it last night and was trying it out. It uses a different "Dashboard" than I am use to using so it may take me some time.
jim
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Watch Your Step
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 08/09/2005 11:32:37 AM
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I'm doing some tinkering with web hosting and other whatnots over the next few days. Might interfere with your ability to read stuff. My sincere apologies. It'll get better.
Honest.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Numbers and Flickr
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 08/08/2005 01:56:25 PM
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Open Source continues to impress me with their interesting and non-vanilla show topics. Check this one out:
What makes taking photos of numbers so fun? There’s something
terribly satisfying in finding series of numbers out there in the
world. But sequencing your photos in a collection is even better. And
when you can do this with a bunch of strangers from around the world
via the internet, it brings photographing numbers to a whole new level.
In Numerical Order
is a flickr group whose members collaborate to post photos from one to
infinity. They’re at 261, today Aug 3, 2005. Join the 644 members of
this group and take part.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL:
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/clockwurkt/
DATE: 08/08/2005 07:46:56 PM
That makes 2 of us . . .
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 12.215.137.171
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 08/08/2005 07:45:00 PM
If I could only have 1 good idea like this...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Teacher Research
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Research
DATE: 08/07/2005 11:03:34 PM
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By the way, I've added a new category to my category listing. The add has been long overdue. The new category is called "teacher research." Teacher research is defined slightly differently by lots of different folks, but here's one pretty good definition, taken from a review of a one of my favorite teacher research guides:
It is research conducted by
teachers as they go about their daily work.
That's a simplistic definition, but there's a lot in those few words. Teacher research is the systematic examination of one's practice, say Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan Lytle in their book. It occurs as a piece of the school day, not as an extra part. Students and teachers work together to improve learning. For everybody.
I've been conducting systematic reflections about my classroom on this blog for the last several months. But I'm not quite to the research stage yet. So much of who I am as a teacher is about asking good questions and attempting to find and document factually accurate answers. It's high time I talk about teacher research in this space.
Certainly, many of you are already familiar with teacher research. It's transformative and affirming to know that one can improve oneself through systematic study. Especially now, as teachers lose more and more power in the classroom.
If teacher research were a web application, it'd probably be a blog.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 08/11/2005 05:28:48 PM
Um, Bud, not to be too harsh, but isn't that just called "life"?
If you want to be really picky I suppose it could be divided into "professional development" and "self actualization".
You (and your readers) are far better read than I so I'm sure you (and they) will recognize this (mis)quote: An unreflected life is not worth living.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Thesis
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teacher Research
CATEGORY: Thesis
DATE: 08/07/2005 10:40:19 PM
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Spoke to my graduate school advisor about my thesis today. I completed my coursework a year ago and am a thesis away from getting my Master's degree. It's not been going too terribly well.
The problem, in addition to moving twice and having a baby, is that I get pulled away by a bunch of different questions and ideas. All of which fade as I get into the next one. However, I think I might know the general direction that I want to go. Might as well share.
I'm thinking about doing my thesis on the educational technology stuff that I've been immersed in these last seven or eight months. I haven't been here long, but I've found technology to be a thread throughout my teaching and learning. These new mediums are fascinating to me -- not because of computers, but because of the ability to connect, reflect and build community. I can do stuff with the web that I can't do in the classroom. My hunch, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, is that these technologies, used properly, can help us to teach better.
No. That's not right. They help students to learn better -- because they require that students take the wheel and drive their own learning. It's not too hard to fake a worksheet -- but try to fake a blog or active participation in a learning community.
I'd love to back that up and be able to cite some research on that. I'd also like to analyze what works when it comes to creating community online. I guess I've got at least two research questions here:
1. How do web-based technologies affect student learning? Teacher preparation?
2. What are some effective strategies to use when teaching with these technologies? How do you create a successful and (self)sustaining community of online learners?
These are definite first draft sorts of questions -- but I've really been thinking about them for a while. I know I'm not alone.
Thoughts?
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AUTHOR: eilonwy
EMAIL: arbitrarysign@hotmail.com
IP: 220.255.46.213
URL:
DATE: 08/14/2005 10:25:21 AM
There's actually plenty of data out there supporting learning technologies, but you've got to know how to narrow down the focus of what you want to do. There's a bunch of academic journals available for e-learning, knowledge management, and also a (very fast-growing) section on how teachers and students use online environments for teaching and learning, and another sector which deals with CME - computer-mediated education.
Your university's library SHOULD have an academic account to access centralised, searchable databases like ScienceDirect, Factiva, Ebscohost etc. You seem to be quite web-savvy, I don't think it'll take you long to handle the search-parameters and find out what you're looking for.
I'm having a bitch of a time trying to think of a thesis topic too. Good luck. I feel your pain. And write me if feel like letting out grad school frustration. :)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Will Richardson
EMAIL: will@weblogg-ed.com
IP: 12.223.211.202
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 08/08/2005 06:35:20 AM
Hi Bud...I've been hard pressed to find any statistical research that supports (or doesn't support) the use of these technologies with students. Hope you have better luck than I did.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Interestingness
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 08/06/2005 11:48:15 AM
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I guess it's time for me to convert my Flickr account to Pro. It just keeps getting better. Just now, I discovered Interestingness. It's a collection of the pictures that an algorithm determines to be the most interesting.
Worth a look.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Thanks, Bill -- Now I'm thinking again!
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 08/06/2005 09:02:38 AM
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rsion coming Bill's written about two interesting items in a recent post. The first is the idea of a learning contract that he intends to use with his students in the fall. The second is the notion of "seductive teachers." I'll let him explain:
At least with
my ninth grade classes, I'll be using a learning contract. I'm still
tinkering with the contract itself but if you would like to see what I
have so far and give some feedback go here.
I view this approach as a way to allow a lot of student choice within an ever more restrictive curriculum environment.
Read a great book this summer as part of my work for the Boise State National Writing Project Summer Institute. Deciding To Lead: The English Teacher as Reformer
by Denny Wolfe and Joseph Antinarella. The authors issue a call for all
of us,but especially English teachers, to become what they call
"seductive teachers."
Seductive teachers "sell"
students on the learning opportunities that school provides. They win
over students and attract them to seeing their classrooms as safe
havens that can nurture their growth. Many students, increasing in
number, need to be sold on this vision. Seductive English teachers can
win over their colleagues to a similar vision; that is, teachers and
administrators working cooperatively in environments that nurture their
growth, as well. By extolling and practicing virtues inherent in the
humanities--and in their well-honed pedagogical processes--teachers can
help build such working environments. They can help build dynamic
schools where dissenting voices are heard, valued, respected, and
considered.
Follow the links -- good food for thought. I'm a fan of the idea of negotiated workloads and grades for students. We need high standards for all kids, but we should have multiple ways of showing proficiencies that engage students' interests and needs. Your thoughts?
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 08/11/2005 05:35:49 PM
My thoughts? I wish you had been my English teacher.
I have had "seductive teachers", but they are rare. They are the ones the students merely call "good teachers".
IMHO, classrooms have become mired in bueracracy and rules. Aside from stiffling learning, it replaces local knowledge about how best to perform a task in a specific circumstance with rigid global rules.
Anything you can do to (and I want to kick myself for using such a pop-psych/PC word) empower your students will help.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: I love the Internet
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 08/05/2005 11:46:16 PM
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So tonight a friend and I were moving some pictures from her digital camera onto her new laptop. We moved lots of stuff and, as is often the case with computers, I was moving really, really fast.
Guess how many photos we lost when I wiped her memory card clean? (Only four, but two were of my daughter at the end of her first mountain "hike.")
Oops.
What use to be an, "Aw, bummer," moment is no longer one at all. On a whim, I searched for programs that I might could use to recover the photos. I found a freeware program and within five minutes of installing it, I had recovered the pictures.
How amazing. The Internet to the rescue!
Again.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Quiet Side
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 08/03/2005 10:11:13 PM
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So if you have a good idea or are doing good work, but you don't take the time to blog it, does the idea or work count? I haven't had too many good ideas, but I have been busy. You just don't know because I wasn't writing about it.
Seriously -- been quiet lately. Took a couple of days off for no reason other than I could. Played with my daughter. Ate some chicken wings. Did lots of stuff around the house that needed doing. Listened to one of my favorite podcasts. A lot.
And I went to a pretty exciting meeting on professional development and what I think is a positive model for doing it properly. We've all been through the meetings where someone visits, tells us what we should be doing, and then wanders away. That's not really helpful. Maybe entertaining, but not helpful. The Education Carnival this week included this piece on some good ideas about professional development. I'm pleased to be involved in some work that isn't a one-shot deal.
The CSUWP is working with several school districts in the Northern Colorado area to help improve the teaching of writing. What's really exciting, though, is one district has committed the resources to provide a year long inservice (five meetings over the course of the school year) for approximately 12 of its schools. We'll be working with interested teachers to do our part to improve writing instruction.
Imagine how much work schools could get done if we spent time and money on successful local initiatives and people instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on one-shot speakers who drop by, say their piece, and move on.
More on this as it develops.
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AUTHOR: mrs ris
EMAIL: mrsris1@aol.com
IP: 68.100.174.214
URL: http://mentormatters.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/04/2005 02:05:53 PM
I will be interested to hear more about this as the year progresses too. Lucky you!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.114.100.48
URL:
DATE: 08/04/2005 05:30:56 AM
First of all, it's nice to have you back!
Your daughter is beautiful! I hope you take lots of time to play with her!
I am most interested, though, in the fact that CSUWP is going to be doing regular professional development for teachers in your area. That is so important! Professional development is just that - development. I don't think you can develop with one-shot meetings. It happens over time. I look forward to reading more about this as the project moves ahead.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Androids?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 07/27/2005 03:48:48 PM
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This shouldn't scare me. But it does.
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AUTHOR: Toni
EMAIL: stdtrt18@shsu.edu
IP: 207.44.166.144
URL:
DATE: 08/02/2005 09:00:45 PM
Oh my gosh! I'm scared, too. She looks too human.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey Hales
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 07/28/2005 07:59:55 PM
Sure beats the heck out of Rosie from the Jetsons, and as long and she/it doesn't pull a HAL from 2001...
"She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human."
Must be a different air compressor than the one in my garage.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: They're Up There Again
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 07/26/2005 03:36:54 PM
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Today, Discovery launched successfully. Here's wishing all aboard a safe adventure.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Handy News Site
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Journalism
DATE: 07/26/2005 01:16:40 AM
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Over the weekend, I read about a site that I think is an interesting tool for looking at the big news of the web world. Ten by Ten is worth a look if you're interested in news and language and pictures. The site scans the web every hour, compiling one hundred pictures and words that are big in the news. I think I'll be sharing it with my students when I begin my journalism course in the fall.
While I don't think the site is as useful as it will be (they're only scanning three news sources right now), I suspect by the fall it will be a fairly useful visual peek at the news.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anne Davis
EMAIL: adavis@gsu.edu
IP: 24.99.172.127
URL: http://anne.teachesme.com
DATE: 07/26/2005 02:04:38 PM
Thanks for the link, Bud! I like this concept and hope I can work it in somewhere with students this year.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Back from vacation -- with a new project
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 07/26/2005 01:13:33 AM
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I'm back from my vacation -- a week of technology free days. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
I returned to an e-mail from a colleague in Florida looking to experiment with some technology. As I was talking to him and sharing some of what I've done with technology, I realized that it's time for me to learn more. He wants to connect his classroom to another one and to incorporate blogs into his classroom teaching to some degree. I showed him two different web applications that I've used before. As we talked, I realized that my ideas about classroom technology and how it should be reasonably easy to use weren't reflected in my explanations to him. I was showing him one tool for one job and another tool for the second. Why use multiple tools when one will do the job of both? I think they're out there. Maybe.
I think I need to learn how to install and use Wordpress and/or Moodle.
Soon.
Seems to me that I'm looking for a content management system that integrates blogs and discussion boards, is easy to use, and is highly customizable. I think, too, that my own professional developemtn requires that I learn more about these tools.
I know that many of you use these tools, and that you're quite adept at working with them. Some of you have given me the opportunity to play around with them (Thanks, John!). Perhaps you have extensive knowledge and experience with coding and servers and whatnot. You probably even know what PHP stands for.
I don't. Yet.
But I hope to. Please be patient as I share what I discover. And as I ask questions. Lots of them.
Am I a geek yet?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 64.108.218.15
URL: http://www.teach42.com
DATE: 07/28/2005 07:13:45 AM
Just one more for you to consider taking a look at: Drupal. Highly customizable with a bunch of plugins. Some really nice features. And yes, it's open source.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/26/2005 10:29:26 PM
As someone who like you needs to learn more about Moodle, this post http://e-poche.net/?p=14 raised a good point about Moodle and its weblog component. Basically it talks about how having students create blogs outside the course content, will encourage them to continue blogging after the class. At first, I thought having weblogs as part of Moodle was a great thing but after reading this post, I'm not so sure.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 64.222.50.52
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 07/26/2005 08:07:25 PM
I would definitely start with WordPress. Wait to see if you hit a wall with the simpler application before moving onto the hairier one.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Taking a break with stuff in my head
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 07/15/2005 11:29:07 AM
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I've been keeping quiet mostly lately, as has much of the edublogosphere, what with summer and breaks and vacations and other projects taking up lots of time. I thought I would be staying quiet, too, as I didn't have too much to say. But then I caught David Warlick's most recent podcast, and I mostly want to say "right on!"
His podcast concludes with a cautionary word about how blogging and podcasting have become buzzworthy, perhaps the "next big thing" in terms of education and technology. That's scary, he says, because the "next big things" often don't change much about education as they fade into the sunset to sit alongside past edufads. Todd Oppenheimer's book focuses on the fads -- not on the good stuff of technology in the classroom.
I'm headed off for a computer-free week in the Four Corners Area. We leave tomorrow. When I return, it will be time to get serious about planning my journalism class as well as a writing course that I've taught before but want to modify (It seems like the more I learn, the less I feel comfortable with my teaching. Is that just me?).
I hope to use blogging quite heavily in some of my courses (and I'm even finding ways to get others in my school on board), and I'll be encouraging many of my students to get into podcasting on their own. Might even podcast a few classroom conversations.
I'm glad to have David's reminder to stew over for the next week. We've all got to be sure that the technologies that we're bringing into our classrooms are there not because they're cool or new or hip or whatever, but because they're making our teaching and our students' learning better; tech needs to be engaging students (and their teachers) in new and exciting ways.
Enough lecturing. I'm on vacation, doggonit.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki Speak
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 07/14/2005 10:57:22 PM
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Anne points to a really interesting collection of stuff on wikis on college campuses. Follow her links for some interesting reads about colleges and wikis.
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AUTHOR: Dana Huff
EMAIL:
IP: 68.215.164.212
URL: http://profile.typekey.com/danahuff/
DATE: 07/15/2005 02:11:33 AM
Have you seen the Teachers' Lounge wiki for submitting teaching ideas? http://teacherslounge.editme.com/
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Golf Story
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Sports
DATE: 07/13/2005 10:11:31 PM
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I don't have a lot of sports success stories. That's just not my bag. But here's one:
- This morning, on the number eight par three at Ute Creek Golf Course, I shot a hole-in-one.
That's it. That's the story. Pretty cool, huh?
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AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/14/2005 02:00:58 PM
Good for you. I'm a bit jealous since I've been playing for 25 years to a single digit handicap and have not have the good fortune of an ace. Next time you play that course, bring your camera and put the hole on you Flickr Account.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jeff Silva-Brown
EMAIL: teacher@coachbrown.net
IP: 64.171.26.92
URL: http://ukiahcoachbrown.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/13/2005 11:50:07 PM
Outstanding! Most people go their whole life without coming close!
Now for the important stuff. Where are you at my friend, because you owe all of us a round ;)
Congrats again.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The AP article that everyone's talking about
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 07/11/2005 11:38:24 AM
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Will's also talking about the AP article. So's John.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogs are Traditional?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 07/10/2005 11:50:48 PM
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ok.com
I read a story in my local paper Sunday morning that gave me pause. By noon, though, I'd forgotten about it -- until Dave Winer linked
to the same story. The story is about blogging and young people, and
how what they say as a teen can come back to haunt them later. A good
reminder, actually, but that's not what caught my eye. The bolded red
text below did:
"I would bet that in the 2016 election,
somebody's Facebook entry will come back to bite them," Steve Jones,
head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, says, referring to thefacebook.com, a networking site for
college students and alumni that is something of a cross between a
yearbook and a blog.
More traditional blog
sites — which allow easy creation of a Web site with text, photos and
often music — include Xanga, LiveJournal and MySpace. And they've
gotten more popular in recent years, especially among the younger set.
In my paper's version of the story, the section on Facebook didn't appear, which made the adjective "traditional" seem really weird.
Since when were blogs traditional? When will they become so?
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL:
DATE: 07/11/2005 07:38:34 AM
And, of course, there are those who would argue that Xanga et al aren't really blog sites at all!
I think blogging is becoming more accepted and acceptable every day. Look at the people you have encouraged to start blogging! I think it is happening all around us all the time without us being consciously aware of it.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast -- Sustaining the Good Stuff
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 07/07/2005 05:32:21 PM
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Today's podcast is a short request for help in sustaining an online writing podcast. That's pretty much it. I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions.
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AUTHOR: Elle
EMAIL: burning.harmony@gmail.com
IP: 67.161.152.180
URL: http://ellethestudent.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/08/2005 07:42:55 PM
Hey, Bud! I haven't been keeping up much with the blogging world since I haven't been home much, but I did (finally) update my blogging class blog. I hope to start updating it again, but it depends on if my summer gets at least a little more exciting. I have a few things I want to blog about, it's just sitting down for the time to do it.
Anyway, this is turning into a pretty long comment. Longer than what I planned!
Hope your summer is going well, despite the problems with iTunes :P
Elle
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Good Day for Ourmedia
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 07/07/2005 07:52:50 AM
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Ourmedia got some good news yesterday. Now that uploads to the service are almost instantaneous, there's really no reason not to try out the free media hosting service. Unless, of course, you've got access to free unlimited web hosting space and bandwidth.
Didn't think so. Sign up already.
And, if you're already using Ourmedia, either for your own reasons or with your students, could you let me know? I'd like to put together a collection of legitimate school uses for the service.
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AUTHOR: Aaron Smith
EMAIL: theartguy@gmail.com
IP: 151.196.39.72
URL: http://academicaesthetic.andmuchmore.com/
DATE: 07/07/2005 11:05:18 PM
I currently upload all of my podcasts through Ourmedia.org, and next year intend to have my art club use a mix of Blogmeister and Ourmedia to document all of their projects. My Ourmedia account name is "artguy."
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey Hales
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://specialeducator.us
DATE: 07/07/2005 07:40:18 PM
Bud,
I ran across ourmedia about a week ago as I was investigating vlogs.(http://specialeducator.us/?p=48)
I, too, find it useful for video storage. I'm in good shape for podcasts on my site as I have a plenty of space on my host. And, with flickr I'm good for photos.
I will be doing vlogs with students this upcoming year and will create accounts on ourmedia.
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AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 07/07/2005 09:54:56 AM
Bud,
I'm using it to store podcasts and videos.
http://www.ourmedia.org/user/4666
Currently, I have 4 podcasts and 4 videos stored there.
As far as student use, our district has ample server space, however, it might be a good thing for students to be using as server access is a bit more complicated (ie FTP configuration). I haven't tried anything larger than 10MB so I'm not sure how that works.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogvangelism
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 07/05/2005 12:09:07 PM
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Been passing around a jar of the ol' blog Kool-Aid this morning, and I'm pleased to welcome two more teachers into the edublogosphere. Kylie Crandall will be blogging with her students in Gunnison, Colorado in the fall, and Megan Freeman has started a poetry blog. Please stop in and welcome these teachers to the world of blogging.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Am I Missing Something?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 07/01/2005 12:16:03 PM
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On Tuesday, Apple released iTunes 4.9, which added podcasting to the iTunes Music Store. I was excited to download the software and see how wonderful the "new world" of iTunes-enhanced podcasting would be.
So far, it's not doing anything for me.
I've attempted to publish my feeds in the iTunes directory -- nothing.
I've attempted to subscribe to podcasts in their directory -- and that works. Sometimes.
Sure, I'm excited that more people are going to be exposed to podcasting and podcasters -- but with the featured podcasters at iTunes being ESPN and Disney (oops -- they're the same people, aren't they), is this really a media revolution? Are the people still driving podcasting?
Or did we just lose it?
I don't know -- but I'm certainly concerned.
Your thoughts?
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AUTHOR: Tim
EMAIL: timtyson@mac.com
IP: 24.99.207.122
URL:
DATE: 07/04/2005 07:57:00 AM
I'm curious as to how long it took for iTunes to publish your feed. I submitted mine last Thursday and no word at all. I'm worried I didn't do it correctly although I'm farily certain I did. ...
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AUTHOR: Derrall Garrison
EMAIL: derrallgarrison@comcast.net
IP: 24.6.185.216
URL:
DATE: 07/02/2005 11:44:07 AM
I have not been using the iPod directory button because there was nothing but the commercial podcasts and so instead have been pasting in the feed through the advanced menu and "subscribe to podcast" function.
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AUTHOR: Sean
EMAIL: techmonk@mac.com
IP: 66.37.84.145
URL: http://seans.typepad.com
DATE: 07/02/2005 05:41:35 AM
Great comments and good questions on this Bud. I find iTunes with the podcast feature to be clunky as well. I still use NetNewsWire to download the mp3 files and then if I wish, I put them onto my flash-based player. Or I just listen on my computer. Perhaps in time it'll get better, but for now I prefer my old method. Good luck in getting them listed in iTunes. I think that'd be great if you are able to do that.
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AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 205.200.51.106
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 07/02/2005 05:37:24 AM
I was a bit concerned by what I found after I downloaded the new iTunes as well. I don't produce a podcast (although I have thought long and hard of doing one), but I am a huge consumer of content. I listen walking to work, at work during my prep periods, mowing the lawn, etc.
I have begun using podcasts in my classroom as another source of information on almost any subject I can imagine. But I think the medium is so eclectic because it is amateur and "indie." I'm concerned to see ABC news as one of their featured podcsts. I'm worried that the coming of advertising will drive podcasting to where radio currently is.
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AUTHOR: Casey Hales
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 07/01/2005 11:37:08 PM
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I have never been all that enamored with the iPod as my "podcast" device of choice. But then, I'm no real fan of Apple, anyway.
I have 2 iPods, a Palm Tungsten C and an iPaq 4355. I have listened to podcasts on all 3. I have done a podcast using the iPaq, as well.
To me, the iPaq is a much better choice than the iPod. When I listen to a podcast, I am always wanting to makes notes or remember a name of a URL. With the iPaq, I can do that. I have a 512mb memory card that I just stick into my computer, drag the downloaded podcasts to the card and stick it in either my Palm, my PPC, or even my laptop.
I think the iPod, although it's great for loads of music, is not my best choice to listen to or even produce a podcast. My iPaq cost about he same as a big iPod. My iPaq is Windows based, has WiFi, Bluetooth, and tons of software. My iPod plays mp3's…
So, I use iPodder, have it download to a specific folder and drag the folder to my memory stick and I now have multiple places to listen to my podcasts.
I find iTunes to be rather cumbersome and unnecessary. I don’t even use it for my iPod.
OK that was my 2 cents worth and them some!
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AUTHOR: John Pederson
EMAIL: pedersoj@gmail.com
IP: 24.158.16.162
URL: http://pedersondesigns.com
DATE: 07/01/2005 01:22:52 PM
I agree with your subpoints, but I think to jump to any conclusion is way to early. With the way all of this is developing, we can stary worrying...well...later next week or something.
I think Apple pulled to trigger a bit earlier than it wanted to. Everybody was suprised by the 6/28 release. There are still elements that are broken, clunky, and a bit confusing. Agreed. Things will balance out over time. It's miles ahead of many of the other pieces of software from the past few months.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki Thinking
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 06/28/2005 02:20:56 PM
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I love that the resource wiki gets attention from time to time. It's sitting out there, patiently waiting for others to discover and add their ideas when then can. (Someday, I've got to do some reorganization work there. Or, you could, if you wanted to.)
Today, this appeared on the meta-wiki page (a page for listing ideas for using wikis):
5. Give school alumni and teacher retirees access to a wiki and let them compile a school history.
What a great idea. Simple, elegant and precisely the type of activity that a wiki can be useful for. A while back, I posted a poem starter that I thought folks might like to add to or play with. It's still there, and, frankly, could use a little help.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 06/28/2005 05:31:31 PM
Nancy,
Thanks. The poem is . . .well . . .it needs help. That's why it's on a wiki. Just trying to get something started . . .give it a shot!
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 24.179.49.150
URL:
DATE: 06/28/2005 04:03:37 PM
What a great idea, Bud! I will be looking at that one for my ESL program. Thanks for pointing it out!
As for the poem... I'll have to give it some thought. I like the idea, but it doesn't flow real well. But then, I'm not much of a poet!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Are Blogs Publications?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 06/27/2005 11:00:17 AM
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We're having lots of success with the CSUWP blog. About half the group is either writing for it or thinking about it. Last weekend, Megan asked, via the blog, a question that is pretty interesting for teachers who write and/or keep blogs. She writes:
I've been doing some research into publishing poetry, and according to
Poet's Market 2004, "previously published" means "anywhere in print for
a public audience...includ[ing] magazines, anthologies, websites and
online magazines, and even programs (say for a church service, wedding,
etc.)" (Breen, 11.) Does this include Blogs? If so, that's a pretty
important thing to consider before posting poetry; it could take it out
of contention for broader publication. And what about the E-Anthology?
Does it count? I would love feedback and more information on this, as I
was considering starting a Poetry Blog, but not if it's at cross
purposes with getting published in more traditional venues...
We need your help. Do you have ideas or suggestions or resouces to help answer this question? I want Megan and others to use blogs to support their writing -- not compete with it.
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AUTHOR: Dana
EMAIL: dana.huff@gmail.com
IP: 68.219.249.5
URL: http://www.huffenglish.com/blog/
DATE: 06/27/2005 11:18:33 PM
My thinking is that technically, print publishers would not consider a blog as "publishing." Teachers have broader notions of publishing than print publishers do. For instance, we often publish pieces merely by putting them on the bulletin board at school. If we did that, does it mean that it has been published and cannot be considered by print publishers? Probably not. Web publishing is a gray area, however, because it reaches larger audiences. The best advice I could give would be to check with individual publishers to see if they consider it "previously published" or not.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Flag Burning to Head to the Senate
STATUS: Draft
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 06/24/2005 08:09:15 AM
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The next few words that I write here might well destroy the credibility that I have to the folks that read this blog, so I'm pondering them very carefully.
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed another attempt to create a Constitutional Amendment banning flag burning.
This is wrong, no matter how right it feels to protect an essential symbol of our nation. One of the great things about the UNited States of America is the defense of a minority opinion. We protect the speech that we despise because all speech is essential to an informed democracy.
I think that anyone who burns a flag as an attempt to create a political conversation is pretty much an idiot. However, I'm not the thought police. They're free to do as they please. And I'm free to call them idiots.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast -- I went to Pueblo and all you get is this dinky podcast
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 06/23/2005 07:12:50 AM
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On my return trip from my visit with the fine folks at the Southern Colorado Writing Project, I took the advice of Dean Shareski and recorded a short podcast about the World Cafe discussion format. Oh -- and the birth of my nephew. And some lightning. Enjoy.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Got Any Podcast Topics?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 06/21/2005 10:15:58 PM
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I'm headed to Pueblo tomorrow to give a presentation on teaching writing. I'm excited to do the presentation, but I've got almost six hours in the car tomorrow. I've got plenty of good stuff to listen to, but I could use a little help.
I've got all that time and two recording devices. Any suggestions for podcast topics for the trip? I guess this is a call for an "All Request" podcast. You name the topics, I'll do my best to cover them in a podcast.
Any ideas?
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AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/21/2005 11:34:57 PM
I've got a couple of ideas you could try:
1. World Cafe...how you use it in your classroom
2. I'd like some more detail on how your students will publish next year...How will it be structured? How will you grade them? What is more important, online writing to an audience or in class writing to their teacher? I realize you've touched on some of these ideas but a podcast dedicated to what worked and what didn't work would be interesting.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The World Cafe
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 06/20/2005 09:50:35 PM
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Since my wife introduced me to the format, I've used the World Cafe discussion model a handful of times in my classes. I didn't know it had a website until now.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL:
DATE: 06/21/2005 10:11:57 AM
Bud, can you elaborate a little on how you use the format? I will admit to only glancing fairly quickly at the website, so forgive me if I shouldn't have to ask.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What We Leave Behind
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 06/16/2005 11:10:31 PM
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I read this article today:
In the fall of 1886, 17-year-old John Rothrock
was late to school eight times; his older brother, William, 18, was
tardy five times.
Their teacher, Mary Killgore, earned $65 a month; her male counterpart earned $111.
And between January and May 1887, there were several incidents of
corporal punishment in Miss E.B. White’s secondary class in Longmont.
For years, the documents that hold that mundane record
of school life sat in a box, often shuffled between the boiler room and
storage closets at Longmont High School, which was moved from Main
Street to its current location at Sunset Street and 11th Avenue in 1964.
“I wondered why we were keeping all of this,” head custodian Carlos
Alvarez said of the box that held a handful of teachers’ old record
books. “And I got tired of moving it around. I know I moved that box
five or six times,” he added, chuckling.
I read this blog post last night:
Accidental time capsules of all kinds tonight, or what anthropologists
of the future will be talking about — furtive text messages? Capri Sun
pouches? patio furniture? — when they talk about us. Listen in, jump on the show’s comment thread,
or call us at (877) 673 6767 and join the conversation. Just what are
the messages we’re leaving for future anthropologists and what are we
writing them with?
When I put the two together, I begin to wonder about the "accidental time capsules" that I'm creating in my classroom and on the Internet. What, do you think, will we leave behind that might be interesting to others? How long will my Flickr photos be online? A Blogger blog? The podcasts in the Internet Archive? It's weird to think that the content that I'm creating now might outlive me.
But it's pretty cool.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Poetry Podcast
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: The Podcast
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 06/15/2005 11:10:19 PM
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I've mentioned before that I'm working with a fabulous group of writing teachers. I also mentioned that I was hoping to get them podcasting. It's begun. Today's podcast is a reading from Megan Freeman, one of our teachers. she's got some great poetry here, and is setting a fine example. Please share a supportive comment with Megan if you like what you've heard.
More to come. If you're interested in more writing from these teachers, here's the link to the podcast feed.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Writing Project Begins
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 06/14/2005 12:45:40 AM
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Monday was the first day of the 2005 CSUWP Summer Institute. Over the next month, I'm tickled to death to have the opportunity to write, think, and scheme with some of the brightest teachers in Colorado. I know that many of you who're reading this blog have a National Writing Project connection. Would it be too much to ask for one or two small favors from you? If not, read on:
1. Would you be willing to share your writing project stories? Perhaps an important moment, insight, or story? Maybe even a piece of writing? You can share either here or on your own blogs, just be sure to trackback -- I'd like to pass along your experiences to our current group.
2. In the next few weeks, perhaps you'd be willing to stop by our Summer Institute blog and leave a comment or two? Don't go there yet -- we're just getting started. (Shh . . . .don't tell anyone -- but I hope to get a podcast feed of CSUWP writers going soon. I'll fill you in with the details.)
If you don't know about the National Writing Project yet, you really should head over to their site. Their core beliefs mesh nicely with those of the edublogosphere. I think.
What are our core beliefs?
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AUTHOR: Sonja
EMAIL: green_sonja@hotmail.com
IP: 69.164.251.225
URL: http://haphazardheadtrip.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/17/2005 05:59:54 PM
I'm new to teaching, having just graduated last month. Last week I signed a contract to teach 8th grade language arts. I am lucky to be participating in the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project (KMWP) before getting into the classroom. We just finished our second week today, with a week and a half left to go. I have already learned so much from the other teachers (I'm the only rookie), and the reading and writing we've done. On Monday, I have to teach a lesson, but I've been extremely anxious about it. I've felt like I have nothing to teach these people who have been doing this for so long. I've decided to do my presentation on blogging, and many of the teachers seem interested to learn more about it. I'd like to know more about podcasting, too, so that I can add it to my lesson. Any info you can direct me to would be great.
I'd be happy to share something I've written since being at the institute. Do you want it posted here in the comments section, or e-mailed to you?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Todd
EMAIL: tsguitar@hotmail.com
IP: 68.164.89.204
URL: http://www.toddseal.com/rodin/
DATE: 06/14/2005 10:25:08 AM
The San Jose Area Writing Project (SJAWP) is my affiliation with NWP. I went through the summer institute 2 years ago and it was fantastic. It's really the thing that got me writing (again). I finished 2 stories that summer (both of which were rejected from a few publications) and put together a 90 minute workshop on a teaching technique. Each participant had to present such a 90 minute workshop, so I was exposed to a number of new ideas. I teach high school and it was the elementary teachers who got me thinking the most. Writing every afternoon, thinking about teaching every morning, it was a good time.
Each day, during the morning "thinking about teaching" time, we had two people take notes. One set of notes was a minute-by-minute account of what happened, meeting minutes, so to speak. The other person wrote a reflection on the day's events, a more personal recollection. Both of those were photocopied to be distributed and read at the following day's meeting. It was a really nice way to remember what happened yesterday, to have a copy of two sets of notes, and to think back on what had the most meaning for you in order to prepare for today.
We had afternoon response groups, teams of 4-5 people who worked together on writing every afternoon. The way our group worked, we each had a different job to perform everyday. One person had to bring in some kind of writing prompt; another person had to bring in a draft of writing for us to comment on; yet another person was responsible for keeping notes of what happened that day. Splitting up the jobs to perform each day made us more effective.
I'm interested in the podcast idea and I might talk to a few people about that this summer; I'm the tech liason for SJAWP now, so it's up to me to bring new technology into the program and figure out how to integrate it. This summer's participants are going to register at the NWP site and will hopefully be making good use of the E-Anthology. The time I went through, I was just about the only one from SJAWP to make use of it, but it was a good way to get some feedback from people. You should register and look into using it, too:
http://www.writingproject.org
In short, organization was key to the success of the institute. And register at the NWP site and get your folks on board for the E-Anthology; this could take the place of your blog or augment it. Hopefully, I'll see you on the E-Anthology.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 66.184.151.106
URL:
DATE: 06/14/2005 06:54:02 AM
I will be doing an advanced writing institute next month and I can hardly wait! It will be nice to be in that environment again!
I can't wait to go to your blog and I will think about something to post from my own experiences. Meantime, have a great few weeks!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Fan Fiction on Open Source
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/12/2005 10:57:10 PM
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Right after I finished my last post, I read this over at Chris Lydon's Open Source blog:
Does Aaron Spelling own the TV he makes, or do we? Sometimes we love
what we watch — or read — so much that we can’t let go when the series
ends. Fan fiction — creating alternate endings or even unholy trysts
using characters from popular culture — is in a way nothing new. Dante
did it, and so did Eugene O’Neill.
But we’re looking at modern
movement that dates to the original run of Star Trek. Fans used to
trade mimeographed copies of the lives of Kirk and Spock. With the
Internet, however (notice how it changes everything), communities of
fan fiction writers can find each other, and if you check out fanfiction.net or yuletidetreasure.org, you will be astonished to discover that there is NOTHING that hasn’t been given the business. Not even the Bible.
Who
would you be writing about? I would be writing about the Dukes of
Hazzard, but that’s beside the point. Is it literature, or is that even
the right question? Is it, as one of our guests maintains, what has
happened to amateur theater?
Interesting, isn't it, how sometimes thoughts and ideas converge in the blogosphere? Should make for an interesting radio hour.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 69.170.111.229
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 06/13/2005 11:06:16 PM
Ben,
Thanks for stopping by. A good friend of mine would be eager to read your Magnum fan fiction. I'd be much more interested in some fan fiction of the A-Team variety.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ben
EMAIL: ben@techsavvyed.net
IP: 66.231.40.33
URL: http://www.techsavvyed.net
DATE: 06/13/2005 06:02:22 PM
Well Bud, as long as we're writing about long gone television shows, I'd be writing about either KnightRider or Magnum P.I. Not that I could do Tom Selleck's "Thomas Magnum" character any justice, but I'd love to explore the whole Vietnam, TC, Rick story archs they touched on during the series :)
By the way, long time reader, first time poster, nice blog you have here. If I were teaching in a school district even half as progressive as yours (and I was teaching middle school) I'd definitely be having my kids blogging (currently not allowed by admin).
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: An Odd Couple: Darth Vader & Henry David Thoreau
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 06/12/2005 10:41:01 PM
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What do the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Prince of Walden Woods have in common? Well, for starters, they both, despite the boundaries of death and/or reality, have blogs.
Yep, that's right. Darth and Hank (thanks, Bill) have been blogging regularly for some time now, which leads to several thoughts:
1. If "real" people can assume the identities of those who are not (or who aren't any longer, sorry Mr. Thoreau), then it's getting even more important that we are teaching our students that they don't take anything at face value. Of course, we already do that, right? The examples I'm talking about have made positive contributions -- what kind of negative postings are hiding in the shadows? (One that I already have seen, but will not link to here, is the "blog" of Terri Schiavo. It was pretty tasteless.)
2. Imagine the possibilities that such fictive blogs and bloggers can create in our classrooms. Who else can we or our students create blogs for? Is the re-publication of some of Thoreau's highlights enough to move students into his books? What other authors are prime for this sort of thing? How interesting would it be to read the blogs of some of literature's great characters?
3. Is there a list of these fictive blogs? Can someone point me to it? If not, should we start one?
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 69.170.111.229
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 06/13/2005 10:50:10 PM
Casey - I'm glad to hear that the ideas was useful. Heck -- I'd like to take a crack at the Cat in the Hat's blog. Mr. Sizer -- I don't think that the Ender's Game series decline in quality as one proceeds -- it's just that the focus of the other books is so different than the first. In my humble opinion, of course.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 06/13/2005 08:59:41 PM
Read Ender's Game (but don't go further in the series - it's by Orson Scott Card, whose books noticably decline in quality after the first). The major sub-plot is about children pretending to be adults on a fictional Internet.
Blogging separates the idea from its proponent. That cuts both ways.
That's one (of several) reasons why I don't like podcasting and video blogging - it inserts personality and subjectivity back into the idea. (i.e. Why should people who have good speaking voices have their ideas given greater attention?) Of course, it's reasonably argued that text favors the literate and erudite.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Casey Hales
EMAIL: casey@specialeducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 06/13/2005 06:30:34 PM
Bud,
I think your point number 2 has great possibilities. I work with Special Education children. My kids are hard to motivate to write and while I would enjoy taking the role of someone other than myself, I think my kids would, too. Perhaps Thoreau might be a reach, but if they can pick whomever they'd like then that would be a great way to get them to think and put "their" thoughts down.
Whether they want to be Spongebob, Batman, a Powerpuff Girl, James Bong, George Washington, Tony Hawk, or Dr. Seuss, any opportunity to get the kids to write is great.
Thanks for the great idea!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Summer Book Club, Anyone?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 06/10/2005 04:55:00 PM
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John Pederson thinks that it's time to have an educational conversation about the Cluetrain Manifesto. He's put together a Moodle space in which to do so. I'm interested -- both because I don't know much about Moodle and because I know that I need to have a better understanding of what Cluetrain says and does and what the implications are for schools. Why don't you visit his site and then join up? Should be interesting. Might be fun.
See you there?
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AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 68.167.206.206
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 06/11/2005 11:17:43 AM
I'm with Tom. I'll look at the manifesto again for kicks, but when I was still a technology editor the manifesto made the rounds. I wasn't impressed then, I'm not sure what has changed.
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AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.206.174
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 06/10/2005 10:50:05 PM
I think the time to have a conversation about the Cluetrain Manifesto was, oh, five years ago, but then again, maybe I'm just a jerk.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogging Funnies
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 06/08/2005 10:16:55 AM
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It seems that the funny page is where the next round of conversations on blogging and journaling are taking place. Today's Dilbert strip highlights how writing a journal by itself is not a tool for learning -- it's the thinking (and the linking and the conversations) that accompany the writing that makes blogging useful.
Right?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Carnival's Up
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 06/08/2005 07:28:06 AM
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It's Wednesday -- which means there's a fresh Carnival of Education. Go check it out -- I'm about to.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Summer Reading
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Professional Development
DATE: 06/04/2005 12:31:00 PM
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Just got back from the library where I picked up, among other things, Todd Oppenheimer's The Flickering Mind. I've been wanting to read it for some time and, now that the school year is over, I have a few minutes to spare. Anyone else read or reading this book? Anything I should watch out for?
What are y'all reading?
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 06/13/2005 08:49:26 PM
I'm glad to see that y'all have such great reading lists. Mine consists of the pulp-SciFi in stock at the local book store (as long as it's not Terry Brooks).
I'm trying to plod through the Great Books, but for every Tristram Shandy, which is written like one of my emails (you know, very parenthetical and sidetracky [but there's nothing wrong with that, is there?]), there's an Adam Smith. Not easy going - but I figure I have decades to get through it.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 06/07/2005 10:34:40 PM
Wow. Y'all've all got some great reading ideas -- and some interesting things to say about Oppenheimer's book -- which I'm halfway through now. I'll be posting more on what's going on here soon.
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AUTHOR: steve
EMAIL: outsidethecave@gmail.com
IP: 151.188.16.17
URL: http://outsidethecave.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/07/2005 11:12:30 AM
Great post idea - inspired me to try and keep a summer reading jounral on my blog (and it would be great to see others doing the same!).
I also go kind of crazy with the summer pleasure reading: I'm still a few weeks from summer, but very much in the summer reading mode. I just (re) started The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Just ordered Nicole Krauss' History of Love off amazon yesterday and have Adrienne Miller's The Coast of Akron on it's way (I grew up about 20 miles north of akron, so couldn't resist). Also have had The Known World staring at me half finished since January, so hopefully will hit that.
On the more ambitious end, I'm hoping to get through Frant Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth and Ivan Hannaford's Race:The History of an Idea in the West.
And of course, the new Harry Potter on July 16.
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AUTHOR: mrs ris
EMAIL: mrsris1@aol.com
IP: 152.163.100.196
URL: http://mentormatters.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/06/2005 12:56:55 AM
I try to read only 1 professional book during the summer, and then go crazy with the fun stuff I miss out on during the year. So far I have planned for the summer months: finish The Alchemist, read Alice Hoffman's Blackbird House (I love the mystical in her stories), Edward P. JOnes' The Known World, re-read the Art of Happiness (The Dalai Lama)...that should get me through to beginning of July.
The intensity of teaching keeps me from reading for pleasure for a good part of the school year. Such a sad unintended consequence of my passion for improving instruction and student achievement. I keep thinking there will come a time when I won't feel so pressed, but after 16 years, if I don't feel less pressure now, I don't know when I will. Maybe when I don't care anymore? Then it's time to get out of the business, I guess.
Finally, Casey H's study of all things DuFour makes me think her school is on a vision quest for PLC's?
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AUTHOR: Casey Hales
EMAIL: Casey@SpecialEducator.us
IP: 66.69.47.121
URL: http://SpecialEducator.us
DATE: 06/05/2005 10:16:07 PM
Bud,
You "have a few minutes to spare" this summer? You got off light. My wife's list of "honey do's" is quite lengthy...
I just ordered David Warlick's, "Classroom Blogging: A Teacher's Guide to the Blogosphere." I'm hoping to get a school-wide blogging effort going this upcoming new year.
Also, on my lite-reading list includes: "Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities", "Whatever it Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn", "Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement".
It may take me half the summer just to read the titles...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/05/2005 12:09:31 AM
Bud,
I've written a couple of papers for my Masters work refuting much of his arguements. Here's a good article also questioning his methods.
http://www.fno.org/dec03/flickering.html
Here's an NPR broadcast of Oppenheimer
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1617851
Bottom line is he does have a point that technology is often misused. He just doesn't acknowledge the untapped potential. He also focuses on schools that spend their time teaching technology which isn't what most consider best practice. I'd be interested in your opinions since from what I've seen, you'd have a hard time functioning without technology.
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AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 142.161.199.2
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 06/04/2005 06:00:25 PM
I'm looking at kind of a geek list for the summer. I picked up a copy of Tolstoy's Anna Kerenina intending to read it this summer, but I started reading it and couldn't stop so now I'm over 1/2 way through. Next are copies of David Baker's National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling and the Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas. Lastly, I'm going to order Friedman's The World is Flat from the iTunes Music Store. I've just finished criticizing people who do this on my blog, but I still want to give it a try ;) Kind of a heavy list, but with time off in the summer, I actually find I have the energy and the time to concentrate!
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PING:
TITLE: Most Harmful Books of the Past 200 Years?
URL: http://outsidethecave.blogspot.com/2005/06/most-harmful-books-of-past-200-years.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Outside [The Cave]
DATE: 06/08/2005 08:09:51 AM
With that said, I came across this list of the "Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries" from Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly, and my first inclination was to read every book on the list. I mean, any group that puts Hitl...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Steve Throws Down
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 06/03/2005 05:02:08 PM
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Steve asks the question that came up in the podcast I didn't publish (Maybe I should?):
How would the argument change if the people arguing against the use
of various technology in schools admitted what their basic concern is -
They do not trust students. And how would the students respond?
Good question. (Although it's not just the students that they don't trust.) How do we pass it on to the right people for a response?
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AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 68.167.206.206
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 06/11/2005 11:36:03 AM
Is it the students we don't trust or the technology? I don't know that it's always mistrust of students. What is the luddite level at the school in question? That has to be part of the equation. When administrators and teachers do not understand technology, then they tend to ignore it, downplay it, avoid it like a bad cold.
I used to be a technology reporter, I grew up with a TRS-80 in my house, I took an IBM compactible (never heard of it? :)) to college. My technology experience is entirely unlike the teacher in the room next to mine who can't plug in a VCR and laughs when I talk about slideshows. Mention iMovies? Please.
Her trepidation has nothing to do with trusting her students. They do some amazing projects without much guidance from her. It has everything to do with her comfort level.
In-services should be required for teachers with little technical background. Teachers should be required to help students incorporate technology into their toolboxes.
In my methods class last year (two years ago!), the debate about technology raged not over what the kids could do, but that some English teachers didn't want to "have to teach it." Rather than looking for exciting ways to inject technology (be it a blog, PowerPoint, PodCasting, whatever) into their lessons, these folks said they had too much to do.
I think that is their own fear of the unknown and overwhelming, not their fear of what the kids will do.
We have to face our own fears before we can talk about what we're afraid our students will do.
(is this too lengthy for a comment? sorry!)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcasting for private reflection?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 06/03/2005 08:52:37 AM
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I recorded a podcast yesterday on my feelings about the blog blocking discussion.
But I'm not going to share it with you.
I realized shortly after recording it that sometimes, the process is more important than the product. There was a lot on my mind yesterday -- filters bug me, but they have a place at school (in dealing with the super-duper extreme stuff) -- and I needed to get it out. But I don't know how professional my musings were, so I don't know that I should make them public.
I'm writing this as a reminder, mostly to myself, that, as I get more and more excited about bringing blogging and other technologies into the classroom as a way to share students' work with the world, sometimes the work shouldn't be shared.
This reflection probably isn't profound -- but it's necessary. I don't want to get carried away, to begin thinking that everything is blog-worthy. It's not. Students need public spaces, but they also need private ones. So do their teachers. Since I've started podcasting, I've probably kept back three or four of the recordings that I've made -- I didn't think they were sharable. But I did learn as I listened to them, and I did archive the files, sort of like a teaching journal or private Xanga space.
Anybody else podcasting for an audience of one?
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 06/13/2005 08:53:16 PM
My third wish, of the proverbial three, has always been that everyone becomes telepathic.
The only reason something is "not professional" is because not everyone shares it - we all have those moments.
Given the current state of affairs, you are almost certainly right that not everything should be shared. Wait a few years.
Google is making us telepathic. (Of course, it's also taking over the world, but that's another topic.)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Woodward
EMAIL: bionicteacher@gmail.com
IP: 151.199.193.186
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher/
DATE: 06/03/2005 09:24:04 AM
I don't podcast (yet?) but I have about twelve posts I have written and held back for one reason or another. I have some things I need to say and feel are suitable for public consumption and I have other things that just need to be noted and expressed.
It always seems beneficial to me to get your ideas out in some way (writing, speech, drawing, whatever). It makes room to move on to other things and lets me know what I need to think more about.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Proverb
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
DATE: 06/01/2005 08:53:05 PM
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Bionic Teacher wrote an interesting proverb today:
Block a website keeps a kid away for a day
Teaching them real world internet skills changes them for a lifetime.
I like it. Is there someone out there willing to stitch this into a sampler? I've got room on my wall.
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AUTHOR: Tom
EMAIL: bionicteacher@gmail.com
IP: 151.199.192.99
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher/
DATE: 06/02/2005 10:09:21 AM
I guess I should have said blocking instead of block, but it loses some of the original proverb feel that way. Since the original was Chinese I can claim a translation error.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Open Source the Radio Show
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 05/29/2005 06:29:28 PM
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If you're at all familiar with the history of podcasting, then you know who Chris Lydon is. (He did the interviews that Dave Winer turned in to some of the first podcasts.) If you're not, maybe you should spend a few minutes at the blog for his new radio show, Open Source. Eventually, the show will be an interactive one, much like blogs are interactive.
The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, which means you can look for it soon. In the meantime, you might want to give a listen to the 3rd pilot episode. It features an interview with the founder of Wikipedia, and conversations with folks who use Wikipedia and those who would prefer it isn't used at all. Very interesting conversation. Personally, I like Wikipedia and would send kids to use it -- but we'd also talk in class about what the site is for and how it should be used.
One of my favorite authors, Simon Winchester, pops up on the show near the end to discuss his experiences with the interactive encyclopedia. The show's worth a listen, as, I suspect, the future episodes will be.
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TITLE: Blog Crawl
URL: http://www.bopnews.com/archives/003528.html
IP: 64.2.134.174
BLOG NAME: BOPnews
DATE: 05/30/2005 09:37:29 AM
Memo to Sunday Herald don't publish pieces on blogging, have a blog in your top menu And then don't update it. The Buzz about Christopher Lydon's Open Source is growing here, here, here, here and here. The last link is...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Graduation Bouquet
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 05/29/2005 05:49:37 PM
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We held our 2005 graduation ceremony on Friday night. Our school of 120 students sent 37 off into the larger world. These flowers were given to me by seniors during a section of our graduation we call the Rose Ceremony. Each flower was given by a senior to someone who they felt was important to their success.
This is the best bouquet of flowers ever created. Each flower is different and beautiful, just like our students.
One student told me that she wanted to give me a flower, but didn't have enough. She told me that she was giving me a "spiritual flower." I really liked how that sounded. Spiritual flowers, I'm guessing, don't require water, and never, ever die.
Here's to the Class of 2005, and the amazing stuff they're about to do.
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AUTHOR: Nerdo
EMAIL:
IP: 67.4.10.35
URL:
DATE: 05/31/2005 10:17:11 PM
Roses are red, violets are blue -- the graduation speakers rocked and one of them was you! Thanks for your presentation Bud. It matched the beauty of these flowers and the graduates who gave them away!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL:
IP: 68.61.67.5
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff
DATE: 05/30/2005 08:49:00 PM
Bud,
I'm sure those flowers and spiritual one made your day if not your year. Congrats!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Good News
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Blogging Community
DATE: 05/28/2005 01:24:16 PM
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She's baaaa-ack! Woohoo!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Arrrrgh
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 05/27/2005 02:56:19 PM
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I received a few e-mails about a problem with the link to the podcast. I've been experimenting with using the Internet Archive to host stuff -- and the experiment isn't going as well as I'd like.
I've changed the link to a smaller file -- it seems that the Archive servers weren't sharing in a very speedy manner. Hope this solves the problem.
I guess I should really just bite the bullet and pay for more space -- but I really, really would prefer not to.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.166.7.245
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 05/27/2005 03:43:25 PM
Douglas,
Thanks for the suggestion(s). I've set up a feedburner feed for those folks interested in the podcasts -- it's feeds.feedburner.com/budtheteacher, but I haven't done a very good job of advertising that -- frankly, I didn't think all that many people were listening, and the ones that were had figured it out on their own. Which is pretty silly now that I've stopped to think about it. It's the XML button on the left side of the page.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: I am not Dustin
EMAIL: iamnotdustin@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.23.216
URL: http://www.iamnotdustin.com
DATE: 05/27/2005 03:30:57 PM
"30 rolling DAYS active storage"
Clear concise account settings and features.
FYI: you might want to check with TypePad to see if they have a feature that allows you to tag your podcast as an Enclosure on your RSS feed otherwise podcast clients like ipodderX and ipodder aren't automatically picking up the mp3.
Douglas
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: I am not Dustin
EMAIL: iamnotdustin@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.23.216
URL: http://www.iamnotdustin.com
DATE: 05/27/2005 03:25:38 PM
Bud,
Try www.libsyn.com
$5/month for 100 MB of 30 rolling active storage, unlimited archiving, and unlimited bandwidth.
Good luck,
Douglas
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The 100th Post, and a Podcast to Boot
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 05/26/2005 11:37:44 PM
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This is the 100th post on this blog. That's not the reason for this post, however. Yesterday, I started using a new podcast rig. I was testing it out and stumbled into a podcast. In this podcast, I discuss and reflect on the experiment, the social in social software, and perhaps ramble on for a bit longer than I should have.
As always, let me know how to make the podcast more useful to you. Thanks for listening! Here are the relevant links for this podcast:
* Nancy's blog (Random Thoughts)
* Darren @ A Difference
* Outside the Cave
* Anne Davis
* Adventures in Educational Blogging
* Steve Dembo
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AUTHOR: steve
EMAIL: outsidethecave@gmail.com
IP: 151.188.16.7
URL: http://outsidethecave.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/27/2005 08:07:46 AM
I've been meaning to dowload your podcasts for a while...thanks for the extra motivation in talking about me (I'm downloading your's and Darren's as I type). Congrats on the end of school.
I just wanted to share your amazement with the ability of this technology to help us connect. I followed up my "Responsible Bloggin Lesson" with a little rant to my students about how amazed I've been at how much I've grown in just two weeks of blogging. I was most amazed by one of the things you mentioned - I've connected with teacher in Malaysia.
We're living in an amazing time to be a teacher. I'm looking forward to see what you do next year!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Thanks for the Meme-ries
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 05/24/2005 09:59:28 PM
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BionicTeacher, aside from having some really interesting ideas, is also sharing one of those pesky little viruses memes that make their way around from time to time. He's right, though, that we can learn more about each other when we share like this from time to time. So, I'll play.
First 5 Songs in Shuffle of Entire Music Library
1. Boat Drinks -- Jimmy Buffett
2. Reservations -- Wilco
(An unidentified podcast -- use those ID3 tags, folks -- but this doesn't count, because it's not a song)
3. How Many Times -- Bob Marley
4. Time Baby 3 -- Medicine
(Dave Winer's Morning Coffee Notes from March 1, 2005 -- but this doesn't count, because it's also not a song)
5. English Civil War -- The Clash
* Current Book You are Reading (or lightly leafing through)
I'm in between books, but I'm informally skimming The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year by Armin Brott and have a wicked-long summer reading list that I'm four days away from beginning to tackle.
* Last Movie Seen in a Theater and Where
Um. Right. Remember how I'm reading that new dad book? I can't remember when I last went to the movie theater.
*Five People To Whom You’ll Pass This
I'll pass this to my blogging students, in large part because I haven't met with them in a week and I miss them. It wouldn't hurt for them to have a short blogging prompt with which to begin the summer, either.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Pushing the Boundaries
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 05/23/2005 11:07:53 PM
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The other day, Fred the Fish stopped by and left this comment:
. . . As a first year, untenured teacher in California, I ask: how far can we
go before the standards yank our collars and pulls us back? As I plan
summer school, which includes a reprisal of the Vagina Monologues read
by me, I think what I and other new teachers want to be sure of is that
we can still can push the boundaries even with the standards and Arnold
looming over us.
Is this true?
Interesting question. As I'm a third-year teacher myself, I've thought about lots of similar questions over the last few years. There's an implication in Fred's question that makes me uncomfortable. Let's start there.
By assuming that we need to "push the boundaries" in our classrooms, we're acknowledging to some degree that we need to work outside of our system in order to be the most effective teachers that we can be. I wonder about this, and I've written about it before. Do we really need to push the lines because they are in the wrong places, or is there a sense or image of the effective teacher as a renegade, one who challenges the mainstream for the sake of the challenge?
Or both?
While I would certainly argue that there is much in mainstream education that requires adjustment and, in some cases, outright destruction, I don't know that we need to be able to push the boundaries all the time. Some stuff is, well, pretty darn good.
Now, I'm in no way saying that this was Fred's point -- Fred's question was a fair one. But I find myself sometimes chomping at the bit to challenge a rule or policy -- before I've actually through through the logic (or lack thereof) in the rule.
I like Colorado's standards. They're good reminders of what's important -- without being so restrictive that I feel like I'm just facilitating someone else's content. (By the way -- there's a tension here between feeling ownership of what I teach and realizing that, ideally, I am facilitating the learning of the content that is important to a number of different folks -- my students and community included. Can anyone help me tease this idea out more?)
We do need to have some guiding principles that are shared across classrooms. NCTE and IRA have published these . What guiding documents are y'all using in your classrooms?
Do you find them to be helpful, or restrictive?
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AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 67.101.149.141
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 05/28/2005 08:54:02 AM
Further thoughts on pushing boundaries and clarifying my thoughts ...
I'm wrapping up my first year, mired in state standards and the teaching standards (California). My teaching program had me consider the standards before I created a unit or lesson, so the standards aren't so much what I think about when I think about pushing boundaries.
(This will be my usual ThinkWrite with moments of confusion.)
Across the room, on the shelf of my desk is the NCTE issue with articles about subversive teaching. To me, this is less about subverting standards that I think are useful -- shouldn't we have goals for our students and ourselves to create a consistent, scaffolded educational system? -- than it is about subverting conventional wisdom about how my students think. My kids rise to the challenge of conversations that aren't just about the text, but are about where the text intersects with their lives. Where it intersects with history. Admittedly, that was what interested me, the idea that I could picture a place or time or person through a book and maybe learn more than I could in my dry history class. When I stood on the desk reading a chapter from the Vagina Monologues, I wasn't forgetting state standards, but I was thinking about engaging my students, getting them to talk about the story, what it mean, what she was saying. And, yes, I wanted them to have some fun, too. I've been on a jag of late about how English class systematically kills the love of reading in many of our students. We finished Lord of the Flies this week; many of my students expected most, if not all, of the boys to die because "everyone died in every other book we'd read this year."
I want to push the boundaries of their thinking. I don't want them to change their political allegiances, or stop reading their Bibles, but I hope that I push them to consider other points of view, to hear other voices (and know what that word means, oy).
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrs ris
EMAIL: mrsris1@aol.com
IP: 205.188.117.8
URL: http://mentormatters.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/24/2005 05:27:26 PM
Our Va. state standards are very clear, sifted nicely by our county into the "essential skills" that we are obligated to teach to "mastery".
Some of these standards have changed over time, mainly those that were originally unclear, or not appropriately matched to grade level developmental readiness. The uproar about the social studies standards was particulary loud, and it was noted that the group that devised these standards did not include any actual teachers. This was at the very start of the accountability movement in Va (under Gov. George Allen,12-14 years ago), a mammoth Rebublican effort that set the tone for change years before NCLB.
The social studies standards have changed alot, and now county curriculum guides across the state are more focused than ever on the exact "essential" information that we need to teach, the kids need to know, and the testers put on the test.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 207.161.78.10
URL: http://www.remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 05/24/2005 06:57:04 AM
You sound like me, arguing with my wife at home (who is also a teacher..) Always dangerous ground to tread, the boundaries are there for a reason, but who puts gets to decide where they sit? Who benefits when they are placed in a certain spot? Ideas of open source curriculum that supports the efforts / needs of a certain space or community come to my mind. In Manitoba we have very clear curricular outomces in all subject areas that it is law that we adhere to; but that doesn't mean that they can't be "massaged" to fit the needs of particular classrooms, kids, and communities.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: fred
EMAIL:
IP: 168.254.225.254
URL: http://tampateacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/24/2005 05:18:47 AM
Yes, the standards are important, especially since the final mirrors what's included in those standards.
With that said, my view is that Florida's Sunshine State Standards (SSS) are the basics, and I need to add on to them.
For instance, the genocide in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia are not included in the SSS. However, I nonetheless spend three days on the issue to ensure students are able to link past historical issues with current world history.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.206.174
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 05/24/2005 12:28:55 AM
Being against the very concept of standards is pretty nihilistic. Believing that some standards are better than others is common sense.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: An Oversight and a Thank You
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging Community
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 05/20/2005 07:25:48 AM
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There's still more to come on my final thoughts about the blogging experiment and the coming aftermath, but I owe many folks a thank you (at the very least). Thank you so much to all of you who stopped in and took the time to treat my students like members of the blogging community. In particular, thanks to Nancy, who was there as a reader and contributor from the beginning; Mr. Sizer, who had lots to say which gave us lots to think about; Will for discovering us and showcasing my students; Tom for his comments; Anne, who showed us that the elementary students get blogs better than we do (we're thinking of you today, Anne), and Mr. Kuropatwa for teaching a lesson that I wasn't able to articulate. Thanks, too, to the others who stopped in on their blogs or the wiki that I have overlooked.
When we work together, sharing our strengths, we can do some pretty neat stuff. Thanks for being good models and partners in our learning.
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 05/27/2005 07:03:29 AM
You're welcome! Have a great summer - and don't spend it all planning for next year.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: fred
EMAIL: jj@go.com
IP: 24.164.7.97
URL: http://tampateacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/22/2005 06:58:44 AM
Hi Bud - nice article. I found your blog through The Education Wonks. Looks like I could learn quite a bit here!
I put up a link to you on my site.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: An End
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 05/19/2005 10:56:25 PM
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We've reached the end of the experiment.
I'll be reflecting over the next few days -- there's been lots to think about and respond to. For right now, I'd like to tell you a story.
Yesterday, one of our other English teachers had some questions about blogs and blogging. She and I have been discussing technology off and on throughout the year, but there was always other stuff to do instead of passing her a glass of blog kool-aid. But teachable moments happen at the best -- and worst -- times. She stopped in for a minute and stayed for an hour.
It was wonderful.
In that time, she quizzed my students on some great blogging questions, and they gave some fabulous answers. It was pretty much a pop final for the blogsperimenters.
They aced it.
One question worth mentioning was her question about what blogs can offer to shy or reluctant writers. David answered, saying that when one starts a blog, no one is reading. Over time, as the readers begin to find the blog, the writer begins to develop a level of comfort and confidence in blogging. I had never thought about it like that. Of course, I've said that a lot over the last six weeks. I love that about teaching.
By the end of the hour, the teacher had a blog. She was convinced. The blog's not much to look at yet, but I know that when she gets some time she plans to explore.
Score one for the bloggers. I wonder what the next round of blogsperimenting will look like. Actually, I'm beginning to figure it out -- as you know if you've been listening to the podcast. More on the future of my classroom in the days ahead.
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AUTHOR: dog1net
EMAIL: dog1net@msn.com
IP: 70.16.79.181
URL: http://dog1net.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/22/2005 07:14:34 AM
It is good to see a teacher have this kind of success with students. Blogging is another aspect of writing, and what better way to turn students onto writing and reading than to expose them to what is obviously becoming the next great wave in mass communication. Your lesson serves as an example of what happens when a teacher makes content relevant.
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TITLE: Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/05/tales-from-trenches-classroom-teachers_22.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 05/22/2005 01:45:32 AM
Welcome to another installment of our regular Sunday feature, Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak. What we have done is assemble an offering of posts that have been published by those who serve in the classroom. Think of this as a colle...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The class speaks . . .er . . .podcasts
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 05/17/2005 03:52:32 PM
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Yesterday in class, we stumbled into our first podcast. We
were talking about how to grade blogs -- and then we got to talking about
a lot more. In true Dave Winer fashion, I started the recorder to capture their thoughts.
I was blown away by the words and ideas coming from my students. I am proud of their thinking and the seriousness with which they are treating their education.I only
wish the other half of the class had been present for the conversation.
Maybe Next time.
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AUTHOR: David Warlick
EMAIL: david@landmark-project.com
IP: 65.87.179.43
URL: http://davidwarlick.com/blog/
DATE: 05/22/2005 08:30:22 AM
Brilliant! We pay way too little attention to our students. I learned more about classroom blogging, more quickly, and more compellingly in the 10 minutes of that conversation with your students, than any other research I have experienced. Thanks! and thanks to your students.
-- dave --
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: k8lyn
EMAIL: negative@negative.com
IP: 67.190.21.153
URL:
DATE: 05/17/2005 06:52:14 PM
update what you're teaching, you're not teaching The Martian Chronicles anymore. Bud, get w/ it...jk...jk
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TITLE: ICT voor de basisschool
URL: http://blogger.xs4all.nl/elkedas/archive/0001/01/01/39643.aspx
IP: 194.109.35.20
BLOG NAME: elke's
DATE: 05/18/2005 04:25:59 PM
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Messiness
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 05/15/2005 10:55:12 PM
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My desk is messy -- so is my job. Susan Ohanian writes in this piece that teaching should be messy -- and that we should resist those who want to oversimplify it. It's coming up on the end of a very tumultuous year for me -- Ohanian's essay reminds me of why the fight was worth it.
Take five minutes. Read. It's worth it.
Use the time you would have used to straighten up your desk.
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AUTHOR: fred the fish
EMAIL: fredthefish@earthlink.net
IP: 67.101.147.7
URL: http://wordgirl.typepad.com/arewedoinganythingtoday/
DATE: 05/16/2005 06:23:57 PM
Thanks for the article. I love my NCTE and I appreciated the challenge that Ohanian lays out for all of us -- to find the means to engage students in learning. As a first year, untenured teacher in California, I ask: how far can we go before the standards yank our collars and pulls us back? As I plan summer school, which includes a reprisal of the Vagina Monologues read by me, I think what I and other new teachers want to be sure of is that we can still can push the boundaries even with the standards and Arnold looming over us.
Is this true?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.232
URL:
DATE: 05/16/2005 07:01:01 AM
Thanks, Bud, for the link. It is a great article!
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TITLE: Messiness and Literacy
URL: http://www.beaconschool.org/~clehmann/MT/archives/003187.php
IP: 216.73.54.2
BLOG NAME: A View from the Classroom -- Lehmann's Log
DATE: 05/16/2005 10:51:00 PM
From the latest addition to my EduBlog RSS list -- Bud the Teacher: Susan Ohanian has an article that is osstensibly about messiness in the classroom. It's not. Don't let...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: More on Safety
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 05/13/2005 11:12:21 PM
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This morning, after reading Will's "script" for talking about safety concerns, I realized we're looking at safety the wrong way. Hopefully, this story helps.
Last week, we took our students to the local recreation center for an all-day school-wide retreat. The focus of the day was to do some community-building. As part of the day, we allowed the students to use the various resources of the center. Some staff were in the gym, others were in the swimming pool. I was at the skate park. My choice.
Many of my students are skateboarders, and I wanted to see what they could do. I was blown away. They knew an awful lot about skateboarding. I asked to borrow a board and give skating a try (I last used a skateboard in middle school.). They were more than happy to oblige.
What the students got for their kindness was a good laugh as I took two or three immediate spills and then decided that I was done for the day. We shared a laugh or two, in fact. I was so glad that we had shared the experience.
Then one of my skate-savvy students landed wrong and hurt her wrist (a serious sprain, but no permanent damage). I was devastated. In the first few minutes of her injury, when I could tell that she was in pain, I second-guessed every decision that got the students and me within five miles of the skate park.
But then I woke up. Certainly no one would advocate removing students from all future activities involving recreation centers because a few people would be hurt. If that was the case, schools would have done away with athletic programs years ago. Too many kids have the potential to get hurt playing sports, don't they?
That's absurd.
Why, then, do we block websites?
Bad things might happen. So might some good ones. We can't prevent all harm -- but by preventing all use, we can definitely prevent the possibility of future success. By teaching our students about the risks and how to minimize them, we can prepare them for a world where skate parks -- and online environments -- exist.
It's the only reasonable way to go. Isn't it?
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 05/16/2005 07:43:46 AM
Perhaps it's not being a parent, but I just don't see the safety angle, either.
More-or-less anonymous people interact with students physically all the time: Sporting events, school plays, recitals, etc... These people are in the same physical location as the students are very able to "extract" information from them - even in the presence of their parents.
It seems to me that the danger of being tracked down in the physical world from a post on the Internet is far less.
On the other hand, the unintended consequences of something glib coming back to haunt one in the future are far greater.
On the third hand, as more and more people have these skeletons in their closets they will become less and less important - everyone will have at some point posted something inappropriate, badly written, or just plain wrong. We'll get over it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Woodward
EMAIL: BionicTeacher@gmail.com
IP: 4.129.85.66
URL: http://www.incsub.org/wpmu/bionicteacher
DATE: 05/14/2005 03:12:19 PM
I am in complete agreement an just posted something similar but I wasn't typing nearly so early.
We have to stop treating things that occur on computers as some how different than everything else. Educate the users then hold them responsible for how they use the technology. If someone scrawled threats on my wall they would be held responsible but I wouldn't ban pens (even from that student). It wouldn't make sense. Banning blogs and the extreme filtering that is going on at many schools doesn't make sense either.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Clarence Fisher
EMAIL: glassbeed@gmail.com
IP: 205.200.51.59
URL: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com
DATE: 05/14/2005 07:35:38 AM
Protecting kids seems to come up with everything that happens in education. Whether it is teachers having to put in more and more hours of duty and extracurricular activities "for the good of the kids," through the kinds of music we "should" be listening to with our kids in our classrooms, it seems like we are often one step (or two.. or three..) away from reality. At what point are we allowed in our classrooms to work with kids, meeting with them at their levels, with their realities? Too much protection, not enough common sense.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.203.205
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 05/14/2005 12:33:59 AM
The safety angle, particularly the abduction by a stranger safety angle, is pretty much a red herring as far as I'm concerned. It's just the classic local news scare fare. In reality the bigger issue for schools is if personal blogs are becoming a distraction in the school. I'm trying to cook up a post on the issue, but it might take a while...
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PING:
TITLE: Responsible Blogging Lesson Plan
URL: http://outsidethecave.blogspot.com/2005/05/responsible-blogging-lesson-plan.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Outside [The Cave]
DATE: 05/18/2005 10:22:35 AM
My students are going to begin using blogs for discussion/brainstorming/metathinking in their final projects starting in about a week. Over the past couple weeks, I've been reading a lot about concerns in various communities about the safety of teen ...
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PING:
TITLE: The Carnival Of Education: Week 15
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/05/carnival-of-education-week-15.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 05/18/2005 03:12:28 AM
Welcome to the fifteenth edition of The Carnival Of Education. Here we have assembled a variety of interesting and informative posts from around the EduSphere that have been submitted by various authors and readers. As with other editions, those entr...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Audacity and Skype Don't Mix Well with PC's
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 05/13/2005 10:39:26 PM
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Dan writes:
Bud,
You've told us you used Audacity to record Skype calls. But how?
I've tried and failed several times (with a PC running Windows XP). I'd
love to know your secret!
Best,
Dan
(I'm an English Prof in South Dakota who uses blogs - and Audacity - with his students)
It's a good question. Unfortunately, Dan, you're not going to like my answer. I tried to use Audacity on my PC to record Darren and my conversation -- and it didn't work well at all. While Audacity has a feature for recording the stereo out of a computer instead of the microphone, the levels are wildly different and hard to regulate.
The simple solution, in our case, was to let Darren and his Mac record our discussion. Apparently, as I've been learning from listening to the Daily Source Code on my drive to work, PC sound cards are not the best when it comes to recording. But Macs are.
Dangit.
So, Dan, it seems that the easy answer is to buy a Mac. There are other options, though. Lots of folks have posted their suggestions. I'm just not sure which one is going to work for my PC. Anyone else know a universal PC Skype-recording solution? Darren's got better things to do than record all of my phone calls.
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AUTHOR: Chris L
EMAIL: chris@chrislott.org
IP: 137.229.96.16
URL: http://www.chrislott.org/
DATE: 05/18/2005 11:43:59 AM
Look for a freeware product called Virtual Audio Cable that will allow one to create a virtual cable that you can record from using Audacity... this allows you to record ANYTHING on your PC... if you do a search in google for skype and "virtual audio cable" you will find some instructions and comments on this combination, I am sure...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Safety Message
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 05/13/2005 07:36:28 AM
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Will has written the safety message that every teacher considering blogs in the classroom should read and share with their students. His concluding remarks are down right inspirational:
Blogs can be wonderful places of learning and connection. They can be places to think, to reflect, to dream and to plan. But like anything else, we all need to learn how to use them effectively, appropriately and safely. We think many of our teachers' and administrators' personal blogs provide some great models, and we'd urge you to check some of them out. But we also understand that ultimately, you decide what you do and don't do in your spaces. We hope you learn to use them well, and if there is anything you think we can do to help accomplish that and to help keep you safe, we hope you let us know.
He concludes by asking what should we tell the parents about safety. I say we tell them just what we tell the students. Head on over to his place, though, and tell him what you think.
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AUTHOR: Mr. McNamar
EMAIL:
IP: 168.212.234.19
URL: http://ahighcall.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/13/2005 09:09:12 AM
"We think many of our teachers' and administrators' personal blogs provide some great models, and we'd urge you to check some of them out."
From experience, be very careful about letting students know about personal blogs. My students knew of my The Daily Grind blog where I had a post on student attire at prom and the perception that myself, students, and chaperones had about that attire. My comments were misconstrued and the result was a sensationalized story in the news. Be absolutely certain that nothing on your personal or professional blog can be misconstrued, especially if you often post about classroom experience.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: At long last
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 05/11/2005 09:57:00 PM
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BODY:
After many delays that taught me a great deal about hosting media and recording audio, I am pleased to share with you the first of three conversations with Darren Kuropatwa, a math teacher and blogger who is discovering with me out here in the edublogsphere. My goal, in recording our conversations, is to document what we're learning and to bounce ideas off of one another.
Let us know what you think.
All the show links are available here.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dan
EMAIL: djweinstein@yahoo.com
IP: 69.9.250.95
URL: http://sio.midco.net/frodo/www/blog
DATE: 05/13/2005 11:08:46 AM
Bud,
You've told us you used Audacity to record Skype calls. But how? I've tried and failed several times (with a PC running Windows XP). I'd love to know your secret!
Best,
Dan
(I'm an English Prof in South Dakota who uses blogs - and Audacity - with his students)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: I am not Dustin
EMAIL: iamnotdustin@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.23.216
URL: http://www.iamnotdustin.com
DATE: 05/13/2005 09:29:25 AM
Going to use a classic student comment here, "But, I don't GET it."
Before you start responding, let me tell you what I do get:
-blogging (internet access aside) is a good deal more accessable to a wider audience than a sheet of paper is, so collaboration/feedback is streamlined
-despite all your admonishments that students need to protect themselves online, I assume that there is the 'anonymous factor' to the work that allows otherwise reticent students to share and communicate in ways they would not have before
My question is to the concreteness of this endeavor. Specifically, what assignments are being completed online and how?
Thus far in all the edublogs I have read I haven't gotten the merest hint of the content and goals that blogs contain.
I taught HS Anatomy and Physiology several years ago. Except for some obvious read only type uses I can't see how I would have incorporated a blog or wiki into the classroom.
Douglas
::cross posted
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Too Good
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
DATE: 05/10/2005 04:20:38 PM
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Via the experiment . . .
Michael said this a while ago -- and I've been meaning to post it since. It's too good to forget.
We were talking about the differences between blogs and online journals.
He said something like:
An online journal is somewhere someone posts their thoughts when they hope that someone will see them. A blog is where someone posts their thoughts when they hope that someone will think about them.
It's a subtle difference -- but an important one. Thanks, Michael.
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AUTHOR: Sean
EMAIL: seans@cqmail.net
IP: 208.13.158.2
URL: http://seans.typepad.com
DATE: 05/11/2005 04:35:39 PM
Seeing posts and thinking about posts--yes, those are two very different things. I've been curious as to the idea of the "evolution" of the blogger. Why does one start a blog? How does one feel about it the longer they do it? How does the blog change? How does the author's writing change? Does having a regular audience make a difference to the writer? Is there a purpose to the blog or just journal chatter?
Increasingly I'm interested in blogs as creative writing repositories, or topical repositories even. They provide an aesthetic enjoyment of sorts, if not simply an avenue for insight and information.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Elementary, My Dear Wiki
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 05/08/2005 12:44:34 PM
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Susan is an elementary computer specialist in Malaysia. She's started blogging with some of her students, and has created some very handy resources to do so. She's also been kind enough to post them to our wiki. Check out her parent letter there, as well as how she uses Blogger to preview the students' posts before they go "live." Very cool stuff.
Is there another repository of resources out there for teachers who are beginning to blog? I think collecting and sharing these parent letters, permission slips, handouts and other stuff to share really makes a lot of sense. I guess such a repository is one of the more practical pieces of an Open Source Curriculum that some others have been talking about as of late. Another piece is a place to offer practical ideas and strategies. Darren's set up a fine example of such at his wiki.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Is Blogging a Habit? Should It Be?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 05/02/2005 11:55:25 PM
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Yesterday, in honor of my 100th blog-day, I asked how long it takes for something to become a habit. I got several comments on the subject, so I thought it was worthy of a bit more attention. The word habit, it seems, is tricky.
Specifically, the tension, as I see it, lies somewhere between Nancy's concern that she doesn't blog enough:
I find I am only able to blog every two or three days. I am trying to
not see this as a problem, but I am afraid of getting out of the habit.
And Steve's concern about one connotation of "habit."
I hope that blogging never becomes just a habit. A habit is something
that you do regularly without thinking. I'd much rather see you not
blog for 5 days and then post something that really makes me think,
versus just every day for five days in a row just because it's a habit.
Good points in both cases. I want to develop a healthy habit (insert happy and positive thoughts here) of checking in, reading and thinking in a transparent way through my blog. But I never, ever want to use this space in a non-thinking or critically-negligent way. I agree with Steve that it's far better to take some time off and come back with something tot say rather than to blog drivel for the sake of keeping my blog fresh. Steve said it this way at (or is it "on?") his blog:
I do have to admit, as much as I love writing and blogging and sharing
and collaborating, I do find it refreshing to take a mental break from
it as well. It may sound crazy, but NOT learning for a few days does
sort of recharge the batteries. I do feel a little out of it. I’m sure
that there have been some amazing things written in the past week which
I missed completely. But that’s alright, there will always be more 
The smiley face, by the way, is his -- not mine. I wouldn't know how to create one of those things if I wanted to. And that's a pretty big if.
Anyway -- Is there a better word than habit? Practice, maybe, or process? I want to be a blogger -- not a habitual drivel offender. Mrs. Ris said it best in the comments when she said that blogging "feels right."
Just wanted to clear that up.
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AUTHOR: ms. frizzle
EMAIL: ms.frizzle@gmail.com
IP: 24.215.228.104
URL: http://msfrizzle.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/09/2005 07:40:35 PM
Mine is the opposite problem: blogging has gone way past habit to addiction... LOL
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tony Iovino
EMAIL: afiesq@aol.com
IP: 24.185.209.126
URL: http://redmindbluestate.blogspot.com/
DATE: 05/08/2005 09:59:01 AM
It's an intersting question. I find if I miss a bit--as I did back in January-- it becomes harder for me to get back in the groove.
I do a "Friday Quickies" each week, which has generated the only pressure I've felt in blogging--I don't want to disappoint (which is really an ego thing, no?)
Ultimately, tho-- few of us (and certainly not me) are making any $$ at this--but I've found it a great feeling that at least a few people "tune in" to see what I have to say.
Tom Hoffman's comment is well taken, and something I forget frequently-- absolutely nothing wrong with "merely" directing your readers to an interesting post or article.
Interesting site--in the immortal words of Ahnuld--I'll be back!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.203.205
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 05/03/2005 09:44:30 AM
I'm strongly in favor of blogging habitually, because the bread and butter of blogging is linking to other good stuff on the web. The "filter" function of blogging is extremely important. If you feel like every post has to be an insightful little essay, you skip pointing out cool stuff you've found. Posting daily is also important to accumulating readership.
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TITLE: Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/05/tales-from-trenches-classroom-teachers_08.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 05/08/2005 12:40:09 PM
Welcome to another installment of our regular Sunday feature, Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak. What we have done is assemble an offering of posts that have been published by those who serve in the classroom.
This post will be upd...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Collaborative Podcasting
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 05/02/2005 11:33:54 PM
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Spent some time tonight in conversation and collaboration with Darren Kuropatwa, a blogger, high school math teacher, and really neat guy up in Canada. He and I have been emailing back and forth on the idea of putting together some conversations on blogging and other tech stuff. Had a great chat about blogs and our classrooms -- I did an awful lot of listening (and fiddling with my recording equipment -- luckily, his Mac came to our rescue!).
We'll be putting the podcast up soon -- but we both were so jazzed by the conversation and the potential of all of this technology and what it can do to connect people and facilitate learning -- that we couldn't resist a quick post to share our excitement.
Look Listen out for the podcast in the next few days. In the meantime, go and see what Darren and his students are up to -- you'll be impressed AND you'll learn a lot.
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AUTHOR: Sue
EMAIL: sue@industrialaudiosoftware.com
IP: 64.119.14.87
URL: http://www.industrialaudiosoftware.com
DATE: 05/18/2005 02:04:10 PM
Wow! Great things here!
I want to let you know about a new Yahoo! group: Podcasting - Education.
Information and discussion regarding podcasting as an educational tool
in today's classroom. Teachers, educators and others share how you
have used podcasting thus far, how you hope to use it soon, or any
special projects that you envision using podcasting in a school
setting. Exchange ideas, tech tips, lesson plans, or even your podcast.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Podcasting-Education/
Please stop bye and join in the discussion!
Also: http://www.industrialaudiosoftware.com/podcast_edu.html
Thanks!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Time Traveler's Convention
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 05/02/2005 04:31:08 PM
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I can't make it this year, but maybe next. Thanks to Mr. Sizer for the link.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The First 100 Days
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 05/01/2005 09:36:13 PM
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As of today, I've been a blogger for 100 days. This is not a big accomplishment, but it is an accomplishment. Had I more time this evening, I'd reflect a bit on what I've learned in the first 100 days -- although I think I do that as I go here in the ol' blog. But I don't have that time right now -- there are bottles to wash and a dog to walk. Just wanted to leave a quick note.
How many days does it take to develop a habit to the point of sticking?
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AUTHOR: nancy
EMAIL:
IP: 68.13.168.178
URL:
DATE: 07/12/2006 01:24:38 AM
"Conventional wisdom says it takes 21 to 28 days to develop a new habit..."
http://registeredrep.com/mag/finance_renewable_resolutions/
also "Generally, it takes about 3 weeks to develop a habit..."
http://www.azcentral.com/health/fitness/articles/1228exercisevow-ON.html
the same to break one.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.48.170
URL: http://www.educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/07/2005 11:53:52 PM
Congrats! Here's to many more days of happy blogging!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mrs Ris
EMAIL: MrsRis1@aol.com
IP: 205.188.117.8
URL: http://www.mentormatters.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/02/2005 03:45:39 PM
I work with behavior specialists to help classroom teachers make accomodations for special needs kids; the research says kids need to do something 21 times in a row (or close to it, accounting for weekends) before we say it is really something they will do regularly without alot of extra effort.
I agree with Steve, above. Not writing everyday is just fine if the next post is more thoughtful because of the break. Or...one could post "lightly" several days a week, then post with a more thought-provoking, deeply considered piece once or twice a week. I think the second option will suit me best. I like to come to the blog on a daily basis (if possible), and get alittle something down. It feels right. Writing daily is a form of discipline I am hoping to develop, and the blog format fits the bill.
Anyway, congrats, and blog on!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 66.99.223.250
URL: http://www.teach42.com
DATE: 05/02/2005 03:12:28 PM
I just wanted to drop in and say congrats! I don't know how long it takes for something to become a habit, but to be honest I hope that blogging never becomes just a habit. A habit is something that you do regularly without thinking. I'd much rather see you not blog for 5 days and then post something that really makes me think, versus just every day for five days in a row just because it's a habit.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dean Shareski
EMAIL: shareski@gmail.com
IP: 70.64.197.7
URL: http://shareski.blogspot.com
DATE: 05/02/2005 09:34:28 AM
I read this article this morning on change.
http://www.fastcompany.com/subscr/94/open_change-or-die.html
From your writings, I'd say you met the "emotional" requirements for change....but the article explains much better.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 24.158.212.123
URL:
DATE: 05/02/2005 06:01:27 AM
Bud, I ask myself that same question. I have been blogging about as long as you have. At first I blogged every day. Actually, I did that for quite awhile. Now, as we approach the end of the semester and there are all kinds of family related things going on, I find I am only able to blog every two or three days. I am trying to not see this as a problem, but I am afraid of getting out of the habit.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Christine
EMAIL: connected2u@gmail.com
IP: 67.161.152.180
URL:
DATE: 05/01/2005 10:22:12 PM
How long does it take to develop a habit?
Good question. I think that there are many different answers. First you have to ask yourself the definition of habit. That habit can also be deemed either good or bad. Does it take the same amount of time to develop a good habit as it does to develop a bad habit?
One of the more popular definitions of habit is : an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.
I think that for myself time at the computer has become a habit. I have often sat in front of it and looked at the clock and wondered where the time had gone. I think then it becomes deemed a habit.
I could go on and on here but I have other habits, also.
I think that maybe this blogging thing could become a habit.
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PING:
TITLE: I'm Back!!!
URL: http://outsidethecave.blogspot.com/2005/06/im-back.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Outside [The Cave]
DATE: 06/22/2005 07:31:59 PM
Right around when I first started this blog, Bud asked "How many days does it take to develop a habit to the point of sticking?" I don't know how many days it takes for the habit to stick, but it was VERY easy to feel like I got out of it. I actually...
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TITLE: Insightful, but also Duh!
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/archive.php?blogid=633
IP: 207.174.250.42
BLOG NAME: Marked Up
DATE: 05/08/2005 09:08:32 AM
Change or Die (from a comment about habits at On today's podcast, I make a pun that isn't really a pun while discussing the issue of teachers reading students' personal online journals. I'm curious to know what others think about the issue, so nicely framed by this post from Barbara Ganley. Some say that teachers should stay away from students' online spaces -- I disagree. Please let me know what you think, both on the issue and on the podcast. Links from the show:
Books Mentioned:
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Student Portfolios
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: ePortfolios
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 04/28/2005 04:46:07 PM
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We're fiddling with text and other media hosting over at our school's blogging experiment. Stop on by and give us a hand or take a look. There are wikis to help create, after all!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: You can't measure everything
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/27/2005 04:35:00 PM
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ACT Day is today in Colorado. The test is given to all juniors in the state. They haven't yet invented a standardized measure of passion and enthusiasm. Have they?
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AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.48.53
URL: http://www.educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/28/2005 07:43:37 PM
We have already spent most of 3 days testing, and we will be spending 3 more next week. And then there are the District's tests. *sigh* And I remember when I was a kid and we did all of this in one day.
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TITLE: They haven't yet invented a standardized measure of passion and enthusiasm. Have they?
URL: http://www.blogbites.com/index.php/2005/05/03/they-havent-yet-invented-a-standardized-measure-of-passion-and-enthusiasm-have-they/
IP: 64.71.187.10
BLOG NAME: BlogBites
DATE: 05/03/2005 03:00:05 PM
Bud The Teacher
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Reflective Blogging/Teaching
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 04/26/2005 04:47:43 PM
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Recently, Clarence over at Remote Access wrote:
I posted last week on the fact that a lot of teachers are writing and keeping blogs; which is great.
I also posted about how a lot of these blogs are not about teachers
at work in their classrooms. They are not blogs where teachers reflect
on their practice and use their blog as a tool to improve their
practice.
I have received a few emails since then from people in agreement with
me. To that end, I am looking to collect a list of teacher blogs that
are reflective; spaces where teachers write about their practices, and
attempt to improve.
Anyone with the address of a blog that matches this description, can
send it to me and we can begin a list of reflective practice blogs.
Send him your links, folks. If you fit the bill, of course. I'd be interested to see the list that develops.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Portfolio Progress
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: ePortfolios
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 04/26/2005 04:17:50 PM
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My blogging students and I got to work today on our portfolios. The end goal is to create a school-wide electronic portfolio system. We're the pilot. Before we could get too far, we had to figure out some basics -- pretty essential stuff like where we will host stuff and how we will put the portfolios together. If you're interested in that discussion, it's occurring over at my classroom blog. Please feel free to chime in.
We're compiling a collection of links on how and where to host media over on our wiki -- please feel free to join us there and add to the list. Right now, a couple of us are going to start a new blog dedicated to portfolio entries, and the rest of us are going to host stuff in multiple places and use our current blogs to link to and reflect on our entries. We'll see which portfolio makes the most sense when we've got something put together.
I know that there's probably a really wonderful content management system out there somewhere that would be just perfect for hosting student portfolios. There are a couple of fine educational technologists that I've asked to help me out in that area. But I don't have any money or a server of my own -- so we're going to push forward with the free resources on the web and see how much we can accomplish.
I think we're going to be just fine -- I am learning about some great places to host content, and my students know lots, too.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Value of Xanga
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 04/22/2005 12:11:04 PM
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I've been wondering an awful lot about the educational uses of online journals. This thinking has come from our recent foray into the blogging/journaling differences.
It seems like online journals are getting a bad rap. And perhaps while they don't have a place within the content of my language arts classes, they may very well have an educational purpose or two. Students, it seems, are willing to share an awful lot of themselves in their online journals, perhaps because the freedom of hiding behind an online "identity" is helpful. Or maybe because sometimes it's easier to "talk" to a keyboard than it is to talk to someone standing in the same room.
Such sharing, particularly from teenagers, has a great deal of value. For multiple reasons. Nancy suggests that online journals, with their frightening posts, are worthy of study because:
What I find disturbing is that the emphasis seems to be on limiting
students' ability to read these "frightening" posts. I wonder what is
being done to try to get at the reason WHY
students are posting such things in the first place. Am I just out of
touch? Am I worrying about something that everyone else knows can't be
solved? If so, that is more frightening to me than the posts themselves.
Chris Lott mentions another reason when he writes:
If a student is just being exposed to the medium {of blogging}, they are like
students in their first creative writing class. I am less concerned
with what they are writing than with getting them to write, and to do so regularly.
Students new to blogging can use personal writing to familiarize themselves with the format. That's a good point. But I think that there's something more important that these journals can be useful for in schools. But not all schools -- only those schools that are interested in students as human beings instead of products to be completed or vessels to be filled.
Can you imagine the power of a school counselor getting an update or status check on a hundred students via a single mouse click? For those counselors willing to pay attention, and those students willing to share, online journals can be a valuable tool for assessing the well-being of students.
I'm thinking specifically here of a recent exchange between two of my blogging students in our weekly all-school meeting. We have a section of that meeting devoted to sharing "I Appreciates" -- moments of sharing positive things that that have occurred in the school community. One student was thanking another because someone offered some reassuring words in a comment on his Xanga site. Those words helped him get through the day -- and they came from a student that he didn't really know. The community was strengthened via Xanga.
Of course, there are probably plenty of reasons why getting involved with the personal writing of students is problematic. Here's one. I'm sure that you can think of more.
Our students are making their writing public through these sites. Instead of running from these journals and their "frightening" posts, let's figure out how to work with them.
Right?
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AUTHOR: Will Richardson
EMAIL: will@weblogg-ed.com
IP: 205.247.6.125
URL: http://www.weblogg-ed.com
DATE: 04/25/2005 08:37:00 AM
Good post, Bud. I've put up some thoughts here: http://www.weblogg-ed.com/2005/04/25#a3463
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 04/24/2005 09:41:32 AM
Yeah -- but that's the hard part sometimes -- knowing when to step in. We need our counselors and other specialists in behaviors and moods to help us determine what is harmless -- and what isn't.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.128
URL:
DATE: 04/24/2005 08:08:31 AM
I think you are absolutely right, Bud. Our students have all kinds of thoughts and feelings. Xanga, and other online journal sites, could give us more insights into their lives than we could ever get otherwise. We may, of course, not always like what we see there, but I think it is important to know what is going on. As a parent, I know that I had better know what is going on in my children's lives. As a teacher, I feel the same way. It isn't that I am always going to jump in and interfere, but I need to know what's going on so I can know when I should step in.
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TITLE: Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/04/tales-from-trenches-classroom-teachers_24.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 04/24/2005 02:49:04 AM
If it's Sunday, that means it's time for another installment of Tales From the Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak in which we visit with some of those that serve students in the classroom.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Student Blogging Wiki
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 04/18/2005 04:46:09 PM
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The wiki for our Blogfolio course is now up and online. There are only two pages so far -- one for Student Blogging Rules and one for Student Blogging Questions. Feel free to check out the pages and to add your ideas or comments.
I was going to introduce a wiki in the classroom eventually, but David provided the perfect reason to do so when he said:
hey
bud we should start having a giant list that we can all enter and add
new rules and all they said was no last names and no saying the name of
our school and school apropiate correct.
i think that we need to
leave it open and flexable so that we can just deal with it when we
start to see problems instead of makeing them so defenite and trapping
ourselves in and it also allows us to be more open and have really cool
stuff going on without much boundaries except the necessary ones that
we have to set
Sure sounded like a wiki to me. Thanks, David.
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AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 04/19/2005 08:56:30 PM
I didn't want to edit the Wiki page, but rule #4 is deliciously ironic: "check over your post for grammar errors"?!? The only thing you will find "over" a post is dust or fingerprints on the screen (or, in my case, a very annoying scratch).
Grammar and spelling, while important to learn so one doesn't sound ignorant, are secondary to the ideas. The rule is understandable despite the misuse of a preposition.
I think this is an excellent experiment and your student's blogs are great (except for the colors on Moe's). Have you read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card? Two of the protagonists are children pretending to be adults in a fictional version of the blogsphere.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Screencasting
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Film
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 04/18/2005 04:40:50 PM
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We were looking at wikis in Blogfolio today. I finally had a chance to show somebody the Heavy Metal Umlaut video that I discovered in February. The video, called a screencast by the author, Jon Udell, consists of audio played over a moving screenshot of someone else's computer. The short movie explains how a Wikipedia entry changes over time. It's a good intro to wikis.
Movies like this are also a pretty handy way to do computer tutorials, as one can see and hear useful information at the same time.
Udell writes:
In the software world, we spend a lot of time describing how things work. To
echo Michael Kinsley's lament about music and film, why should those
descriptions use only text, possibly augmented with screenshots? Why don't we
present, and quote from, live experiences?
It's way easier to do that than you might think. Tools that capture
screen video, along with voiceover, can produce compelling software
demonstrations. It's true that many of these tools are commercial, but
some highly capable ones--including Windows Media Encoder--are free.
I can see several uses for such technology here in my school. Creating a screencast of how to create and use a Bloglines account would be nice. So, too, would be a screencast showing interested individuals how to download, install and use a tool like iPodder. How about a movie about how to use Blogger? I'm sure you can think of other uses.
In this post, Udell has a screencast where he shows how to use Windows Media Encoder to make a screencast. I don't have time right now, but soon, I will be teaching myself how to do so. Next up would be a good place to host those screencasts and a neat and tidy index that is user friendly. There are services that sell this type of training, but why do we need to buy what we can make for free? (And can personalize for our unique contexts and preferences.)
If you beat me to it, and you probably will, be sure to share your tips and ideas.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Introducing . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Student Blogs
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 04/14/2005 03:47:18 PM
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Well, I promised that I would put up a link to my students' blogs at the end of the school day today in a podcast and post on Wednesday. But Will Richardson
beat me to it. That's actually much better -- his curiosity led to
an afternoon of excitement for us as we read our words on his site. His post is a reminder that we're really out there
for people to see. As I have told my students -- people are watching. Do good work.
I can think of no better introduction to my students' and their new experiments than Will's Rather than reprint it here, go take a look .
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.128
URL:
DATE: 04/14/2005 05:26:41 PM
Thanks, Bud! I have read some of the students' posts and have got them all in my Bloglines account, so I will be keeping track of what they have to say. There's some good thinking going on there!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Big Day -- New Podcast (#4)
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 04/14/2005 12:03:21 AM
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BODY:
Today was a big day for my school blogging project. Light bulbs went on as the students began to realize just what they were getting into. More on that later.
On Thursday, I'll be sharing the URL's of my students public blogs. Until then, here's a short podcast on how today's class went and a breakthrough that we had yesterday. Of course, you can read about some of what we discussed here.
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AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.128
URL:
DATE: 04/14/2005 05:48:36 AM
Great podcast! And great to learn some of what your students think about this.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Carnival #10 Is Up
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 04/13/2005 07:29:19 AM
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The Education Wonks' 10th weekly Carnival of Education is now up for your perusal. Lots of interesting stuff to view there. Be sure to drop by.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What would students say?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Democratic Classroom
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 04/12/2005 04:42:02 PM
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It seems like there are lots of people weighing in on what "counts" as blogging. Specifically, Will Richardson has taken the issue on several times, most recently
here. I've also been fortunate enough to receive a
semi-personal lesson in blogging, which he defines here in another
post:
But I've never in my life written the way I write in this Weblog. And frankly, I don't know that I've learned as much from any other type of activity as I have from this type. And I learn when I'm doing just what I'm doing now (sweat on brow.) I'm not journaling. I'm not just linking. I'm attempting to synthesize a lot of disparate ideas from a varitey of sources into a few coherent sentences that I can publish for an audience and wait (hope?) for its response to push my thinking further. That's the essence of blogging to me, and I can't do it without a Weblog. That's the distinction. That's what tells me this is different. And that's what makes me think so hard about the effects that blogging, not just using a blog, might have in a classroom. If we've been blogging without Weblogs in schools all along, then just put me out of my misery now. But I don't think we have.
Will argues that "blogging" is a specific set of skills that are really best utilized in the form or genre of a blog (you can't be a blogger in a notebook, for example) -- and that much of what he sees in schools is journaling, not blogging:
Xanga is not a blog site. It's an online journal site. There is nothing inherently wrong with journaling online (provided it's done with the proper precautions.) But there is something wrong with calling that blogging. And that's what's happening more and more. And the problem comes when parents and principals equate Xanga and other such sites with blogging, which in turn predisposes them negatively toward efforts to use blogs the way we know they can be used.
For better or worse, I agree with him. Blogging is a unique set of skills and much of what my students are doing on their personal blogs (journaling and ranting, mostly, according to one student) isn't really what I'd like to see in the classroom. But I wonder how many students are actually participating in this conversation. Are adults once again making decisions for students without their input? Wouldn't it be terrible if the decisions about blog use in classrooms were all made for students, instead of with them?
I was curious, so I shared some of the debate with my students, and asked them their opinions on the matter -- what uses do blogs have in schools? Are your current uses of blogs something that would be useful for schools now? What would be a way that your personal and public uses of blogs might intersect? Their class discussion was fascinating -- and is important enough that, when their posts are complete, I will share that information with you.
I am currently awaiting their answers on their student blogs. I am eager to see the "second draft" versions of our class conversation.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mrsizer
EMAIL: blog2@15grant.com
IP: 207.174.250.42
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/
DATE: 04/13/2005 10:41:12 PM
I always look forward to the comments on my entries. It's somewhat intimidating to know that the world can not only read everything one writes but also talk back.
Having only four regular readers, it's only a potential worry for me, which, perhaps, explains why I look forward to the comments so much.
I take it the student blogs are not available on the Internet but only internally at the school. Do you really have an IT staff capable of setting up a VPN and students capable of using one?!? My corporate VPN is iffy and getting it to work with my home network has taken weeks (and it's still a bit flakey). How do students blog from home if it's an "inside the school" network?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.128
URL:
DATE: 04/12/2005 08:04:05 PM
I guess there is still that part of me that hasn't totally embraced - or hasn't fully worked out the ramifications of - student choice. Should students make all the decisions about their education? Some of them? Which ones? But you are definitely right that we owe it to the students and to ourselves to at least ask them.
I am anxious to see the results. And I will also be interested in seeing what you do with them. (Not to put any pressure on you or anything, Bud!)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 70.109.203.205
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 04/12/2005 07:23:35 PM
Excellent point, Bud. I'm anxiously awaiting the results.
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PING:
TITLE: What is Blogging
URL: http://www.15grant.com/mrsizer/blog/archive.php?blogid=620
IP: 207.174.250.42
BLOG NAME: Marked Up
DATE: 04/21/2005 09:27:55 PM
Bud the Teacher asked Carnivals o...
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TITLE: The Carnival Of Education: Week 10
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/04/carnival-of-education-week-10.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 04/13/2005 05:28:27 AM
Welcome to the tenth edition of The Carnival Of Education. Here we have assembled a variety of interesting and informative posts from around the EduSphere (and a few from the Larger 'Sphere) that have been submitted by various authors and readers. Th...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A new responsbiility of citizenship?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/12/2005 12:22:04 AM
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I'm not Catholic, but I, like much of the world, was saddened to learn of Pope John Paul II's passing last week. The man made a difference in the world, and, agree or disagree with his politics, held human life in great respect.
But that's not the reason for this post. The reason is to respond to this statement from Philip S. Corwin:
The Washington Post reports
that during the days leading up to the funeral of Pope John Paul a
Dutch priest "led Internet listeners on an intimate audio tour that
allowed them to pay one last visit to Pope John Paul II before he was
laid to rest. Father Roderick Vonhogen brought the Catholic Church's
ancient rites to life through a cutting-edge format: the podcast, a
radio-style show that is distributed over the Internet. "
The story continues:
"On
"Catholic Insider," listeners hear Father Roderick banter with students
camped out in St. Peter's Square and describe the pope lying in state
in the basilica. "It's beautiful, it really looks like he's sleeping,"
he whispers as a choir sings in the background.
Religion, whether organized or splinter, is clearly not asleep and seems to be emerging as an early adopter of podcasting.
That
said, articles like this are bound to fade as the novelty value of
podcasting dissipates. We already take ubiquitous video imagery for
granted to the extent that it hardly seemed remarkable that multiple
amateur videos provided a worldwide audience with unprecedented views
of a historic natural disaster, the recent Indian Ocean tsunami.
Likewise, it will soon be expected that any world event of note will
generate multiple first person podcast reports and reflections.
The last sentence is so significant, let me repeat it:
Likewise, it will soon be expected that any world event of note will
generate multiple first person podcast reports and reflections.
What a big idea -- that the expectation of society will be that, when the big events of the day are occurring in one's own neck of the woods, that person is responsible for sharing their experiences and information with the larger community.
I don't know if society is willing to buy-in to idea that we are all responsible for contributing to the knowledge of others. Heck, many of us can't seem to fathom that jury duty or voting are important civic responsibilities. But as a teacher, I hope to prepare my students to be responsible citizens. Stepping up to contribute when society has a need or interest is one way in which they can do so.
Grassroots Journalism, indeed.
Podcasting, then, becomes a tool that is a piece of a larger obligation to share information. This idea furthers the idea that blogging and podcasting are tools for students who have real value to add to an educational program, and that students are not just in school to gain value and/or meaning from someone else. We (schools) exist as institutions to help students craft their worth and interests into tools that are useful to society and to the students themselves. Schools that see students as vessels to be filled with information don't need social technologies.
I'm off to check out the Catholic Insider. What other podcasts are exposing people to new experiences and ideas?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Jefcoat
EMAIL: teachnology@gmail.com
IP: 209.120.162.10
URL: http://onthecuttingedge.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/13/2005 07:31:21 PM
Talk about authentic assessment--you've got it right there! An authentic audience encourages students to write for more than just the teacher, whose grading their work. Students have the opportunity to be "heard" by actual listeners, viewers, or readers. It's a great intrinsic motivator for many students!
--Eric
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Winter Wonderland? On Spring Break?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/10/2005 03:23:40 PM
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They're predicting between eight and 16 inches of snow on the Front Range of Colorado today. We're watching the snow blow sideways at our house. The family is safe and snug herein. It doesn't get much better than this.
Could a snow day be in the cards?
UPDATE: Yes.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Mistakes are Made
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 04/08/2005 11:28:24 PM
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I had some extra time this afternoon as I was sitting in traffic in Denver. This gave me a chance to get down some thoughts about mistakes, how we can learn from them, and why we should allow
our students the opportunities to do so. Specifically, I'm exploring
some of the riskiness that I'm feeling and I'm hearing about from
others in regards to allowing and encouraging students to blog. Some
questions:
* What mistakes are students going to make?
* How can we help them to fix those mistakes in a responsible manner?
* How can we hold students accountable for the dishonest mistakes versus the honest ones?
Here are the links mentioned in the podcast:
* Teach42
* Blogmeister
* Principal Bans Blogging -- via Will Richardson
As always, I'd love your feedback.
There's a certain irony in the fact that I experienced several
technical difficulties in the creation of this podcast - - so there are
some audio "mistakes" herein.
Oops.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 04/12/2005 09:08:22 PM
Alicia --
You're right -- blog posts are great places for feedback on grammar and punctuation. Perhaps one of the best places, because students are probably more interested in looking professional and intelligent when their writing is online for others to see.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alicia
EMAIL: alicia.lauve@gmail.com
IP: 70.113.71.121
URL: http://indefinitearticles.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/09/2005 05:13:01 PM
I guess one of the smallest mistakes is a simple grammar mistake. They are very common in blogs so they might be easily dismissed. But if you are in an English class, grammar and spelling and revision are important.
I was recently reading a blog of a teenager and saw a mistake with the use of their/there. I thought about leaving a comment (I don't remember if she had an email address, that might have been best) so that she could fix the error. But I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Even though she would probably appreciated it. (The good news is I went back out of curriosity and couldn't even find the mistake.) So I think one thing to be considered is getting over hurting people's feelings. You need to give and be able to receive constructive criticism.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Online Book Clubs
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 04/06/2005 04:04:41 PM
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A colleague/mentor of mine is looking to do some work with an online book club. By book club, she's thinking about a place to discuss and converse on a shared reading experience. I'm glad that she is, because her thinking has gotten me thinking a bit about ways to orchestrate such work. I think a blog is a pretty good tool for use as an online book club. According to some, "blogs are cumbersome for discussion", but I think that a book club via a blog could be handy.
Of course, I'd need a good chat room application for real-time conversations, but something like this might work.
How would you host a book club online? Participating in any? What do they look like?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blog Legs
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 04/04/2005 06:17:30 PM
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BODY:
Do you ever just itch to write something down? Since I've developed this blogging habit, I find myself taking better notes and trying to get ideas down more often than before. I don't know if my skills have improved, but I do know that my desire to write, and to remember the good stuff so that I can get it down, has improved in the last couple of months.
Partly, I think that's because of the fact that there's a small audience to this blog. I feel a responsibility to "do good work and keep in touch" as Garrison Keillor might say, because there are others at the end of this pipeline. That might be the biggest strength of a healthy professional community.
But that's not all that it is. I like writing more. I've been stretching my writerly legs and I've enjoyed the intellectual exercise in a way that I haven't in a long time ever.
The exercise metaphor seems like it fits really well here. Two weekends ago, I went skiing. I've only been skiing about four or five times, and I'm not real sure of myself, but this last trip was the first skiing trip that I took where I wasn't scared to death. I had a good day on the mountain because I knew what I was doing and I'd practiced on previous trips. I developed my skiing legs.
Blogging, for me, is beginning to be like that. I've got some practice in and I'm ready to do more. Although, what happens as I get more comfortable? Will the quality of my words (perhaps already questionable) diminish? I hope not -- but it's something to watch out for.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 04/07/2005 09:22:07 AM
I guess I wasn't too worried about grammar when I was talking about the quality -- I was more talking about the quality of the ideas. But there's a conversation going here, so I guess the quality can't be too bad, right?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric Esteve
EMAIL:
IP: 198.245.204.2
URL: http://www.esteves.org/blog
DATE: 04/06/2005 02:06:33 PM
I agree with Scott. Blogging can revolutionize interactive education. Don't sweat the details of punctuation and grammar. I'm more interested in what you say as opposed to how well you said it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bob
EMAIL: rwheiny@yahoo.com
IP: 24.117.201.101
URL: http://tabletpceducation.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/05/2005 06:18:00 PM
I agree. Just keep on writing, keep on writing, keep on writing, ... And we'll read!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scott D. Feldstein
EMAIL: scott@scottfeldstein.net
IP: 134.48.241.42
URL: http://scottfeldstein.net
DATE: 04/05/2005 09:02:23 AM
I wouldn't worry too much about the "quality of your words." Blogging is about writing quickly and often poorly. Spelling and grammar are for brochures and textbooks. Blogs are about speaking in our own voices, typos and all. It's the authentic voice people are after.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Traci
EMAIL: tracilei@yahoo.com
IP: 68.209.9.17
URL: http://lit-lover.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/05/2005 06:43:14 AM
I've had the same experience since I've started blogging. I find myself paying more attention to the day to day details that deserve (sometimes demand) more exploration via a blog post. I've also noticed that the more I blog, the more I edit/revise my posts before publishing them. I think that becomes more of a concern as we begin to realize we have an actual audience, however small it may be. All of these are good reasons to engage students in blogging--to turn them on to writing, to make them become more aware of audience, and to make revision feel worthwhile. I'd love to teach a course like yours, but it's unlikely in my district, with budget cuts and class sizes ballooning out of control. However, I am introducing blogs, ever so sneakily, into my ultra conservative school and classroom. Thanks for sharing the details of your experience with the rest of us.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: David Muir
EMAIL: d.d.muir@strath.ac.uk
IP: 217.42.22.237
URL: http://edcompblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 04/05/2005 06:12:28 AM
Hello there
I know what you mean about keeping notes. I have only just re-strated blogging after a half-hearted attempt a few years ago but already I have been frustrated goodness knows how many times when I go to write about something and can't find something that I know I've read and want to refer to. To use a good Scots word, "scunner"!
I am trying to be much more disciplined and use del.icio.us to store and tag websites that I might want to use of in the future. I'm hoping the tags will make it easier to find stuff as the bookmark list in my browser it a real dogs breakfast and is too large and unwieldy to be much use to anyone.
Thanks for an interesting set of posts.
David
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Grade "A" Blogging
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 04/04/2005 06:06:52 PM
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I'm constantly blown away that other teachers, quality teachers, in fact, are reading and thinking about my reflections here. The feeling, to quote a student of mine, is "sickly-ill tight tight." (I think that means cool.)
Darren, over at A Difference, recently posted a comment here about my blogging course. He had some interesting suggestions:
I'm thinking I might like to teach a similar course. (It would be so
much fun!) I wonder how you're going to assess your students work?
Just thinking out loud here:
How about asking the students how they think they should be assessed?
What sort of required work should they have to do? What sort of
periodic formative assessment would be fair and legitimate? Build the
rubric together maybe.
As I imagine myself teaching such a course, after listening to your
podcast, I've got some more ideas. In your podcast you mentioned two
things:
(1) You began by reviewing some of the technology apps out there. i.e. RSS and Bloglines.
(2) Many students today are more technologically knowledgeable than their teachers.
Ok, so one part of the assessment might be to have each student
research a technology (is this grammar correct?) and then present/teach
the class how to use/integrate it into their blogs. i.e. podcasting,
videoblogging, flickr, wikis, blog template design/editing, etc.
One last thought. Anne Davis wrote an article about an ESL teacher
whose class is blogging about bullying. Anne suggested other teachers
pick an issue and do the same. How would that be for one of your class
assignments?
I'd love to hear what you think about all this.
What Darren didn't know, is that I've already asked my students to help with the assessment piece of the course. I don't yet know exactly what it means to earn an "A" as a blogger. I have some ideas, of course -- but don't we all. My students and I will be deciding together. I'll share that here as it develops.
I've also asked students to pick a project or two for the class and to write up a contract of how they'll earn the full credit for the course that way. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with after the break.
Darren, by the way, has created a wiki to use as a classroom text that is, in his words:
kind of like a student generated math dictionary that the whole class builds together.
His idea is quite sickly-ill tight, tight. Now if only I understood higher-level math.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Spring Break -- Finally
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 04/04/2005 08:50:54 AM
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Now that Spring Break has finally come to my district, I am able to catch up on some much needed rest and work around the house. Paradoxically, I think the week off from school will actually allow me the time to get a great deal of schoolwork done.
I've been reading lots about other student blogging projects recently; I'll post more (links and summaries, etc.) when I've processed what I've read.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Podcast #2
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 03/30/2005 11:35:51 PM
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Well, due in part to the excitement I've felt in the classroom this week, and also in part because I did receive lots of positive feedback on last week's podcast, I've decided to give this another stab. This week's podcast is an opportunity to share a bit about my blogging class and what I'm learning so far.
Links from this week's podcast:
* Hipteacher's Xanga comment
* Will's reaction to Myspace.com
* Bloglines
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: panasianbiz
EMAIL: bill@panasianbiz.com
IP: 75.13.68.176
URL: http://www.panasianbiz.com
DATE: 07/23/2006 04:59:19 PM
I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. Some great ideas here. I am always amazed at how adept my students are when it comes to technology. I'm no slouch myself, but they're incredible!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 142.161.109.136
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/01/2005 09:05:16 AM
What an exciting idea! A course on blogging! I'm looking forward to seeing the blogs your class generates. You've got me thinking and wondering.....
I'm thinking I might like to teach a similar course. (It would be so much fun!) I wonder how you're going to assess your students work?
Just thinking out loud here:
How about asking the students how they think they should be assessed? What sort of required work should they have to do? What sort of periodic formative assessment would be fair and legitimate? Build the rubric together maybe.
As I imagine myself teaching such a course, after listening to your podcast, I've got some more ideas. In your podcast you mentioned two things:
(1) You began by reviewing some of the technology apps out there. i.e. RSS and Bloglines.
(2) Many students today are more technologically knowledgeable than their teachers.
Ok, so one part of the assessment might be to have each student research a technology (is this grammar correct?) and then present/teach the class how to use/integrate it into their blogs. i.e. podcasting, videoblogging, flickr, wikis, blog template design/editing, etc.
One last thought. Anne Davis wrote an article about an ESL teacher whose class is blogging about bullying. Anne suggested other teachers pick an issue and do the same. How would that be for one of your class assignments?
I'd love to hear what you think about all this.
All the best Bud!
Darren
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PING:
TITLE: Tales From The Trenches: Classroom Teachers Speak
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/04/tales-from-trenches-classroom-teachers.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 04/02/2005 03:13:41 AM
It's been a quiet week around the Wonks household. Classes in Middletown have been recessed, as this has been our spring break. However, on Monday, we will face la deluge as once again, nearly one thousand students will flood into hallowed halls of H...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Beginning
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 03/28/2005 07:01:07 AM
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Today begins my experiment with blogging in the classroom. At 3:00 p.m. Mountain, I will hold the first session of my blogfolio course. In the course, I'll be experimenting with blogs and blogging and wikis and related technologies. I'm pretty excited and nervous to see what we can accomplish. I'll post more on the first day and my plans for the coming weeks; wish me luck!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jwenzloff@misd.net
IP: 68.61.67.5
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff
DATE: 03/28/2005 06:30:05 PM
Bud,
Good luck and best wishes on your "new adventure." I sure there eill be more highs than lows. I look forward hearing our story.
jim
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bob
EMAIL: rwheiny@yahoo.com
IP: 24.117.201.101
URL: http://tabletpceducation.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/28/2005 11:59:12 AM
I see you post early. Good for you. Keep up the good work. I'll keep watching, as will others.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Taking the Plunge
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: The Podcast
DATE: 03/23/2005 10:00:56 PM
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When I first started this blog, I challenged myself to eventually put a podcast together. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it, technically, but then I drifted on to some other things. But now I'm back to the podcasting.
It took a while. I needed a little bit of equipment and a big dose of courage. The more I listened to the really great educational podcasts out there, the more nervous I got. But a challenge is a challenge. So, like Jim, I'm taking the podcasting plunge. We'll see if I can tread water.
Here is my first podcast, a brief thoughtstream on identity, anonymity and blogs. I've written about this topic before, but I liked having the opportunity to talk my way through the issue.
I sure hope that you do.
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AUTHOR: Carlos Toledo
EMAIL: ctoledov@nova.edu
IP: 137.52.176.134
URL: http://chilepodcast.libsyn.com
DATE: 07/20/2005 02:42:51 PM
I would like to invite you to listen my podcast for your class of Spanish.
I'll be here in USA untill august and I would like to be in touch with some teacher podcaster.
Carlos Toledo
chilepodcast@gmail.com
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Darren Kuropatwa
EMAIL: dkuropatwa@wsd1.org
IP: 142.161.30.151
URL: http://adifference.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/25/2005 08:47:48 PM
I enjoyed your podcast as well. I found you by following a link on Jim's blog. You've made some excellent points. There's a tension here that I would be interested in hearing the opinions of the edublogosphere on.
On the one hand, we need to protect the identities of our students for their own safety. Young people don't always make the best judgements as evinced by the recent news item about young girls exposing themselves on webcams, mistakenly thinking that only the one friend they send the image to will ever see it. (Lots of issues here; I mention it simply as an extreme example of why student identities must be protected.) Reasons for protecting student identities are legion.
The tension pulling us in the opposite direction is the one you podcasted on. The need to be transparent about who we are and keeping the level of conversation positive and professional even when we disagree. My advice to my students on my classroom blog has been to use only their first names or nicknames so that we can identify each other easily. I've also advised them to keep their names disconnected from their images; to use avatars (a graphic or picture representative of them but not of them) instead. One of my students brought this up on our blog the day the issue came up in class. Coincidentally, it was my very first podcast. ;-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jwenzloff@misd.net
IP: 68.61.67.5
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff
DATE: 03/24/2005 08:25:41 PM
Great job Bud!
I enjoyed listening to your podcast and went back and made some very simple changes on my blog to better identify myself. Your concerns about student safety are very valid. I do think the more we can open our classrooms up to parents to see what we are thinking and doing the better we will be.
I work with teachers. I know that some of them following what I write. I wrote one entry that I didn't think was negative, but others did. I didn't intend it to sound the way it did. I guess that is the difference between speaking and writing. People can see your feelings as well. Since then I have been careful about things I say about people.
Again, you made me think. That's good.
Thanks,
jim
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eric "Anonymous" Jefcoat
EMAIL: teachnology@gmail.com
IP: 24.9.112.91
URL: http://teachnology.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/24/2005 12:11:42 AM
Bud,
Great job! I enjoyed listening to your first podcasting venture. You have a very good voice for it--keep it up.
You make a good point about anonymous teacher blogs. If you have to be anonymous to say it, perhaps this isn't the venue to say it. However, as you pointed out, there are some real positive ones that are anonymous as well. That's certainly their right.
Great job!
--Eric Jefcoat
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki Update
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 03/17/2005 02:42:59 PM
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I added a rough draft of a document that I am building to distribute to students on how to get started blogging to the blogging resources wiki that I have setup. If you are interested, have a resource to share, or want some feedback on or to workshop something you are creating, come and join the conversation. I've learned a great deal about wikis just through the last couple of days -- they're pretty handy tools. As always, there's more to learn, but this work has already been fascinating.
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AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.45.12
URL: http://www.educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/20/2005 04:21:41 PM
Congrats! I just wish that our Neanderthal (actually, that is insulting to Neanderthals) District would allow kids to Blog. Maybe in 10-15 more years, when everything has changed yet again..
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What do those tests teach?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 03/17/2005 06:35:34 AM
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This week we're giving our state test, the CSAP, to the students at my school. It's going pretty well -- the students, for the most part, are taking the test seriously, as they care about our school and what the test scores can mean for the program. But something happened yesterday that really made me frustrated with this sort of assessment.
One of my students, a nice young man who has only been with us for a little while, raised his hand during a writing test. I walked over and he whispered to me, "Can I use a dictionary?"
The language arts teacher inside of me smiled with glee -- here was a student seeking to use a tool to improve his writing. Hooray! Questions like his are the ones that start conversations that lead to increased knowledge. Teachable moments, some call them.
Except yesterday wasn't about teaching. Yesterday was about taking a test. Teaching and learning and standardized tests don't often sit down together at the dinner table of the real world.
The CSAP, as standardized tests go, is not a bad test. But it is a test where you're not allowed to use resources like the dictionary or a thesaurus. Or ask the teacher to spell a word for you. Or read something you wrote out loud to see if it makes sense to a colleague or a classmate. Or any of a number of tools and strategies that I teach my students and that real people actually use in the standardized testing-free world that exists outside the realm of the public schools.
Standardizing a testing experience, like standardizing an educational one, takes away many of the dynamic and social elements of schooling and learning and being in a community of learners. These tests are artificial assessments -- and that's frustrating.
I understand the value of a test score (which isn't near as valuable as many legislators seem to believe that it is). Testing can and does provide us with some information about our students that is handy to have. But I also understand that yesterday, a student who is growing as a writer and a thinker asked to use a dictionary, something that I had never heard him ask to do before. It was a simple request that should have been immediately granted. Shouldn't we be encouraging dictionaries and other tools for learning? Where on the test is asking for help or reaching out to a new tool honored?
"I'm sorry, but dictionaries are not allowed.
"Oh."
I don't want to make too big a deal about this, but what kind of language arts teacher denies a kid a dictionary?
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AUTHOR: Bob
EMAIL: rwheiny@yahoo.com
IP: 24.117.201.101
URL: http://tabletpceducation.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/30/2005 05:45:16 PM
You each make good points, yet I think another point adds to the conversation.
Standardized tests also evaluate a teacher's performance with students against the performance of other teachers.
Test makers, and currently politicians, may call this a validity check of teacher performance. That's a sour but real pill for each of us to take.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan C
EMAIL: bcostin@gmail.com
IP: 69.174.129.124
URL: http://bcostin.typepad.com
DATE: 03/25/2005 01:25:17 AM
I agree, it's silly to prevent a student from using a dictionary. But is this problem really because of standardized testing? Most of my teachers were pretty strict about not allowing any written references when taking tests, and that was back in the 70's and 80's. It seemed ridiculous to me then, too, and I always resented it, because I'm much better at finding what I need to know than remembering it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Vash
EMAIL:
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://vash.blog-city.com
DATE: 03/22/2005 01:37:32 PM
Bud, I agree with you completely, not being able to use a tool like a dictionary is ridiculous, especially considering that you are an English teacher. That has to be one of the hardest things to deny a student, considering you most likely wish students would ask you that more often. I feel your pain.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Douglas
EMAIL: palisade14@gmail.com
IP: 66.250.23.253
URL:
DATE: 03/17/2005 09:58:05 AM
I know the question is mostly rhetorical, but this is the version of 'mostly rhetorical' that begs a response of some kind.
I was pondering along these lines the other day, not specifically the denial of valid resources, but the difference of expectations between school and employment. After I dismissed the trite answer: They just are, all I was able to come up with is that its not actually different.
The expectations are the same; the ratios are different.
In school, testing situations in particular, you are demonstrating individual performance for the sake of advancement. I would guess that minus a few group projects here and there that performance is the bulk of effort in school.
Contrastingly, most jobs don't accomodate regular and timely advancement as schools do, so the need for individual performance is dimished. In fact, advancement in my experience is random, not built into an employer's structure, or simply based on longevity and never based on quantifiable individual performance.
On a daily basis, a job skews the ratio in preference of producing over performing.
Performance in business is about increasing speed and reducing iteration to produce deliverables. I literally get to keep taking a 'test' until I get it (almost) right. I advance based on my ability to out produce my co-workers in the same effort.
The drawback is that without a standardized environment, my employer has a hard time measuring my abilities over another's.
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PING:
TITLE: The Carnival of Education: Week 7 (on the road)
URL: http://drcookie.blogspot.com/2005/03/carnival-of-education-week-7-on-road.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: JennyD
DATE: 03/23/2005 01:26:11 AM
Welcome to the 7th Carnival of Education! I am thrilled to be guest hosting, and terrified at the thought of even trying to fill Education Wonks’ shoes. But the time has come, so let’s open the fair. Please help publicize this great event...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Wiki wide open
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 03/16/2005 04:22:02 PM
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The sample policy wiki has been up now for several hours, and I've gotten some feedback on access to it. I'm removing the password protections on the site so that it's truly open for all to edit and work with. I'll keep it that way, hopefully, forever, but I can always go back and add that layer if necessary later.
I'd love it if you'd stop by and offer your ideas, feedback, suggestions, etc. We're starting from ground zero here -- and I think it'll be lots of fun. Here's a post that explains what this is all about.
Also, just a quick mention -- This week's Education Carnival is up and running -- make sure you stop by and check it out.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: So much for "what if"
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Wikis
DATE: 03/15/2005 11:55:38 PM
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Well, based on the almost immediate responses I got from my musing this afternoon, I have gone ahead and created a workshop space for any interested collaborator to play around in/with. Thanks to the fine folks at JotSpot, I was able to put together a really, really rough wiki setup in a very short time. Mostly, it's a convoluted brainstorm at the moment, but over the next couple of days, with your help, perhaps we can create a policy together that I can use in my district and, hopefully, others can use in theirs. At the very least, I will be learning a great deal about the practical applications of wikis. I hope you'll learn something, too.
If you're interested in checking out the collaborative wiki, then point your browser here. The login information is available here.
Thank you in advance. It is beyond exciting to even think about an opportunity to share ideas with those of you here in the edublogosphere.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: What if . . .
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 03/15/2005 03:35:46 PM
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What if I were to put a sample blogging acceptable use policy on a wiki and ask the kind folks out there in the blogosphere to help me cobble something together? Would anyone play along? Or does everyone else already have this stuff figured out, and I'm the only one who doesn't yet?
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: budtheteacher@gmail.com
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://www.budtheteacher.com
DATE: 03/15/2005 11:32:13 PM
Okay. Well. Let's go experimenting. I'll post this info here and on the main blog page. Thanks in advance -- I/You have no idea what we're getting into. I only hope the experience is useful for everyone -- and I get a policy that I can at least begin with out of the deal. Oh -- and along the way, I think I'll figure out how to use a wiki!
I have created a very rough but functional wiki at: http://budtheteacher.jot.com/WikiHome (Thanks to the fine folks at JotSpot!)
If you'd like to join in the creation of a document, use this info to get into the rest of the site:
Login: collaborator
Password: helper
There's not much more than brainstorming there, yet. Thanks in advance for your help.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 64.109.254.1
URL: http://www.teach42.com
DATE: 03/15/2005 08:19:43 PM
I'm game! Count me in.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy McKeand
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.128
URL:
DATE: 03/15/2005 06:44:18 PM
I would be happy to be involved with this. Just let me know where!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 10.10.8.169
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 03/15/2005 05:36:02 PM
Yes, please. Everyone is wandering around in a haze, as far as I can tell.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Almost Forgot
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 03/13/2005 03:03:39 PM
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Almost forgot to tell you one thing about my conference experience. During one of my sessions, I was talking about how great it was to have a discussion board as a place where students could go to talk about literature. I said something like "I think that we need to create more opportunities for students to talk to one another."
With that, I just explained why I'm so fascinated by educational technologies right now. They're not about geekiness (although some of my teacher friends are beginning to consider that I am, or have been for quite some time, a geek). They're about opportunity. A place to think and learn together. Something much more fun than learning alone. And, a great deal more authentic than writing for a teacher.
Anyway, just a reminder to myself that I like that line of thinking -- I'm not covering content, I'm creating opportunities for interaction.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Post Conference Report
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Professional Development
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 03/13/2005 02:41:23 PM
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Jim is a kind and faithful reader, and he works to provide blogs to teachers in his area. (Check out what he's doing here.) To my recent mention of attending the CLAS Conference, he comments:
I'd be interested in hearing what you think is a successful
conference for you. I think if I find one new thing I can use in my
professional life and can use it for several years, the conference is
successful. The second thing I look for is did I meet someone I can
work with or partner with in the future. The third is did someone make
me think about what I do in a new way. So networking, concepts, and
practical use are three things that make a conference successful for me.
Your opinion? I'll be interested to see what you write when you get back.
Jim's list of what makes a conference successful is a list that I can agree with. I'd add one more. His comment is a great way to kick off my report on what I learned and was thinking about this weekend. The conference was a successful one -- here are the highlights:
I attended a session on art in the classroom conducted by a colleague of mine from the writing project. Her session reminded me of the power of drawing and painting in the language arts classroom. So many of my students respond to the world through their artwork -- and I can barely scribble a stick figure. Her session was helpful as a way to think about some ways to put artwork back into my classes.
Another session I attended was by Brannon Hertel and Ed Walsh, two teachers who are team planning for multiple reasons. Their session was about some strategies that you can use to help maximize time efficiency, something that I could certainly use help with. One tool that they use in their classroom is SchoolNotes.com, a free resource that they use to share lesson plans with their students and parents. That's a handy tool, and I like that they are planning a week out so that their students know that if they miss class, there's somewhere they can go to begin catching up (or, in some cases, to get ahead.) Their work shows another advantage of being more transparent in our practice, as I've been reading about here in the blogosphere.
Transparency in practice seems more and more important to me, and it can be as simple as placing some lesson plans on the Internet. (Of course, putting grades out there is an entirely different issue -- one worth discussing later.)
Both of my sessions went well. Both dealt with collaboration, which seemed to be a theme of this year's conference for me. The session on my work with a middle school teacher and the collaboration between our students in an online discussion board went exceptionally well. The attendees were very interested in what we were doing and, more importantly, had some good suggestions and feedback for us. At the end of the session, I mentioned blogging and I could see the increase in interest. I think next year I'll do a session on blogging -- I don't feel like I have that much knowledge yet -- but I can help folks get started.
The conference was definitely a success for me. I did learn a thing or two, discovered some avenues for future partnerships, and reaffirmed that my current collaborations should continue. Most importantly, I left excited about what it is that I do -- teaching. I feel inspired and excited to return to my school and hunker down for the last quarter of the year. That might be the main reason for attending a spring conference -- to be inspired and recharged.
Barry Lane, a writer in Vermont, was one of the keynote speakers. He spoke about needing humor in the classroom, and how real humor is humor that doesn't tear people down. One thing he said, and I don't know if it was his idea or not, was that one "does not need to blow out others' candles to make their own shine brighter." I liked that approach very much. I also liked a song that he performed about a teacher that made a difference for him -- there's a video of him performing it here. I won't lie -- he made me cry. But it also fired me up to get back to work.
So, too, did my attendance at the Celebration of Young Writers, an event held to honor the winners of various writing contests affiliated with CLAS. I helped with this year's High School Writing Contest, and it was a joy and an honor to hear the work of the amazing young writers in attendance.
Inspiration is what our students need. But we need it, too. That's why I attend conferences -- to learn, to collaborate, to discover, and to be inspired. Jim, did I answer your question?
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AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jwenzloff@misd.net
IP: 12.75.32.72
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com
DATE: 03/13/2005 07:29:51 PM
Bud,
Yes, you did answer my question. I really enjoyed reading your post. It sounds like you had a great conference. Inspiration is a great addition to the list of things that make a conference worthwhile. I'm going to a conference this week. I'll post my summay soon. Keep up the great work.
jim
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PING:
TITLE: The Carnival Of Education: Week 6
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/03/carnival-of-education-week-6.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 03/16/2005 02:41:11 AM
We are pleased to present the sixth edition of The Carnival Of Education. What we have done is assemble a variety of interesting and informative posts from around the EduSphere (and one or two from the Larger 'Sphere) that have been submitted by vari...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Conference Time
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Professional Development
DATE: 03/10/2005 09:03:04 PM
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I have ended my school week early so that I can attend the Colorado Language Arts Society Regional Spring Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to recharge my batteries a bit as I dig into the work that other teachers are doing. I'll be presenting on two collaborative projects that I have been working on -- one a collaboration with my students and a colleague's middle school students via an online discussion board, the other a collaboration between my students and some preservice teachers and their professor at Colorado State University.
The preparations for the presentations (say that three times fast) have gotten me thinking an awful lot about blogging and how it is a collaborative project of sorts. I am writing assuming that you, whoever you are, are reading. More than that, I am assuming that you are thinking about what I am saying and, if you're so inclined, are responding.
I have had some fascinating conversations over the last couple of weeks via this space, conversations that are really just beginning. As if the conversations occurring in this space aren't enough to keep me busy for quite some time, there's also the conversations that I am eavesdropping on. RSS and a comment button or two are easy ways to collaborate with the online community of educators that I am learning from. Talk about professional development.
Here's a sampling of what I've learned in the past week:
** There's a ton of really great Open Source software out there for school use. (Thanks, Steve!)
** How to teach students to take notes in the dark when watching a movie. (Thanks, Mike!)
** That blogging is sometimes "like an avocado." (Thanks, Nancy!)
These bloggers and their ideas, and others that I don't have time right now to mention, have been like a mini-conference for me. I'm thinking about what they've said, and what others have said, and my brain continues to spin. This blogging experience has become a professional development opportunity for me. I read and write and feel refreshed; and I'm just getting started.
What is blogging doing for you and your teaching? What collaborations (virtual or otherwise) are lurking out there in the blogosphere, waiting for just the right time to rear their heads?
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AUTHOR: Alex Gill
EMAIL:
IP: 209.120.161.2
URL: http://Vash.blog-city.com
DATE: 03/11/2005 11:22:31 AM
Now i know where you are bud. thanks for telling us. Farley and dottie are gone today as well and one guy is covering for all of you. Plus we have been wondering where you were all day. I'm glad i checked you blog. i'll just do that from now on.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jim@misd.net
IP: 64.88.81.58
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff
DATE: 03/11/2005 05:27:18 AM
Bud,
I enjoy reading your blog and enjoy your conference. Your comment about conversations is an important one. Even if people don't comment, the conversation is between what you write and what the reader thinks as they are reading. I read once that when you stop hearing the your inter voice when you read you stop comprehending. So there is conversation.
I'm off to a conference next week and doing several presentations also. I’d be interested in hearing what you think is a successful conference for you. I think if I find one new thing I can use in my professional life and can use it for several years, the conference is successful. The second thing I look for is did I meet someone I can work with or partner with in the future. The third is did someone make me think about what I do in a new way. So networking, concepts, and practical use are three things that make a conference successful for me.
Your opinion? I'll be interested to see what you write when you get back.
jim
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Education Carnival
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 03/09/2005 09:49:10 AM
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If you've got a minute, there much to read and discuss over at this week's Education Carnival, brought to us by the Education Wonks. Hopefully, tonight I can sit down and really dig into some of these posts -- I'll probably have some comments to share once I've done so. I sure don't agree with everything that I'm seeing -- but I'm sure glad there's a place like this to have some conversations. In the meantime, happy reading!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Be careful where you put things
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 03/06/2005 09:24:31 PM
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I've got a daughter who will eventually enter this stage.
The stage where anything and everything goes into her mouth or wherever
else she can place things. I hope we never, ever make a contribution
to this jar.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Writing Projects
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
CATEGORY: Writing Project
DATE: 03/04/2005 11:50:00 PM
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My wife and I, both Colorado State University Writing Project alums, had a chance last night to have dinner with other writing project folks from around the state of Colorado. The event was a reading by Gary Soto, and the fine people at the Rocky Mountain Writing Project at UNC in Greeley were our hosts. (Unfortunately, due to residual illness, I missed the reading.)
The meal was a nice chance to say hello to other teachers who, like us, think that teachers of writing should also be writers. Also, we think that writing shouldn't be taught in just English classes. Writing is a tool for learning, not a content. Then again, most content areas are artificially so. Ever try to do science without math? How about math without reading? Social studies without statistics?
Anyway, the reason for this post is to just mention the idea that there might be a National Writing Project site near you. If so, you should check it out. I can honestly say that the NWP has the potential to change your career. Tomorrow, my wife and I will be among several writing project teachers meeting applicants for this year's summer institute at CSU. I am honored and eager to meet so many distinguished teachers and to have the opportunity to discuss their practice with them.
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AUTHOR: Alex
EMAIL:
IP: 64.58.1.252
URL:
DATE: 03/06/2005 04:10:23 PM
i like this post bud i agree completely.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nancy
EMAIL: namckeand@yahoo.com
IP: 68.185.232.128
URL: http://namckeand.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/05/2005 06:12:26 AM
I couldn't agree with you more! I am part of the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project out of Hammond, Louisiana. I did a lot of writing before and had my students do a lot of writing, but I can honestly say that the Writitng Project changed my teaching and, corny as it sounds, my life. I doubt that I would ever have started blogging, for instance, if I hadn't done the Writing Project. Every teacher should try to participate if there is a Project site nearby. You definitely won't regret it!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: It's the Links
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 03/02/2005 11:21:24 PM
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Steve over at Teach42 has posed some really, really interesting questions. He writes/asks:
It’s a fascinating topic. Blog the noun, vs. blogging the verb. They
are very different things. Thinking about blogging as the set of ’21st
Century Skills’ that students must know to create and maintain a blog
puts a very different spin on it. The reality is that this really needs
to be considered closely, as these skills should probalby be included
into curriculum standards. Blogs are one way to teach these skills,
they aren’t the only way. But they do need to be represented and built
into the curriculum.
Hrrrm… Methinks this requires more
thought. What are the important skills for a student to know in order
to be an effective, quality blogger? What skills does a student need to
know when they graduate lower school, middle school or secondary
school? Finally, what is the intersection of those two sets?
One
last question to mull over: Do blogs offer up a new way to teach the
same skills we’ve already been targeting, or do they represent a new
skill set that we need to be incorporating?
And I responded:
Wow. You ask a huge question at the end of your post here, Steve. My
gut answer is yes and no — Blogging as I am beginning to understand it
asks a writer to take ideas and weave them together — a little of this,
a little of that, add some critical analysis and you’ve got a good
piece of writing. That’s no different than any other writing that I ask
my students to do. I want them to think critically.
But blogging,
because it involves hypertext and the entire Internet to draw from,
adds a layer. Students linking and cross linking can get, well,
complicated. as you say, a blog can help to make clear a “conversation
occurring in slow motion,” which is precisely what a good piece of
writing is — it speaks to the pieces that came before and it hints at
those to come.
There’s lots here that I, like you, have to think about.
But I don't like what I said there -- yet.
I failed to mention that the physical act of linking is an essential skill. To be able to connect multiple texts, to show where one idea was born and merged into another idea -- that is a fantastic skill that I do not believe is possible without the blog. The hypertext here is essential. A student making these same connections with sticky notes or string or highlighters on a paper text just doesn't make sense to me. But I don't know. It's late, and I've been thinking too hard lately.
My answer is a work in progress. Like me.
I want to think more about Steve's questions and get back to them, so I'm reserving the right to do so. In the meanwhile, why don't you take a stab at them? Tell us what you discover.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Education Carnival
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 03/02/2005 06:26:00 AM
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Been trying to read lots of educational blogs right now. An easy way to do so is to hop over to the Education Carnival. at The Education Wonks. It's an interesting collection of a variety of posts, almost all by teacher bloggers. Worth a look if you have a minute. Probably worth a look if you don't.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Technology Update
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 03/02/2005 06:19:42 AM
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I wanted to give a quick update on some of the technology that I've been playing with lately. I'm continuing in my quest to teach my blog pilot class next quarter -- and that's now less than a month away.
While I've been aware of Bloglines for several weeks, I hadn't had the time to play with the site and see what it can do. I like that I can have my aggregator online so that I can check it from both home and school. The program is also entirely free, which I like -- but I've been told that it is blocked in some school districts. Can anyone tell me why? I think it's got definite potential as a student tool -- it's web-based, so anyone using it can access it from multiple locations. That's important to me because if my students take to blogging, and some of them already have begun to do so, then I want them to have the tools after they leave my school. If I get them excited about a process that uses technology that only exists in the school, what good have I done? It's also free and very user-friendly.
I also discovered Site Meter yesterday -- it's a really great free program that give me some interesting information on links and visits and hits and so on. I don't really understand some of the information it gives me (yet), but it's another step and piece of a potential puzzle. The program wins my "Easy to Use" award because they have service-specific instructions for installation. Took three minutes to install. Really.
Podcasting has taken a backseat for me right now, as I am working to make sure that my district can get a blog system going. Once that is in place, I will refocus my efforts on podcasting, which I think has multiple uses at my school -- but is less essential than blogging. As I've told some of the technology folks in my district, blogging is the cake, podcasting is the icing.
That said, I still have located a headphone/microphone combo and I've also purchased an iTalk for myself. I'll be playing with those tools as time permits, and perhaps get a podcast or two going on my own.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Thought Convergence?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/27/2005 09:03:03 PM
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I don’t
know if I’ve just entered the blogging community at the right time or what, but
I sure am seeing lots of convergence between my ideas and what I’m reading
right now. Tom Hoffman is talking about a
school-wide blogging system – and that’s what I am looking for. Unfortunately, he says such a system really
isn’t in place – and might not be for quite some time.
That’s a
real bummer, because I was hoping to find just such a system when I began this
little odyssey of mine. What I’ve found is slightly different.
The tools
are out there – those for creating easy, ad-free blogs, that is – as are free
content enhancement tools (sites like Furl
for storing and showing reading, Flickr for photos), but
I don’t know if there are tools that exist that are a total package – instead
of the piecemeal system that one could create if one wants to (and I do, which
is why I am here).
I don’t want
blogging to become an exercise in technology training. That’s why I was excited when I realized that
I didn’t need any HTML background to get a blog up and running. I don’t have any experience coding, and I
don’t have the time to learn right now – my job is to teach language arts, not
computers. Even though my students need those skills, my primary interest is in helping students work with information. But if my students have to
take a large percentage of their blogging time to find ways to shoehorn these
various content management tools together, is that useful or will that be a
hurdle? Or a roadblock? (The optimist in me screams "Opportunity!" but he's being beaten down today by reminders of past classroom failure.)
I think
about students that don’t have computers at home, and don’t have hours upon
hours of time to devote to learning how they work. They need to be blogging, not setting up a blog (two very different
skills, I realize, thanks to Will’s gentle reminder).
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Steve Dembo
EMAIL: sdembo@gmail.com
IP: 66.99.223.250
URL: http://www.teach42.com
DATE: 03/01/2005 12:25:22 PM
I think part of the problem is that we're greedy. We want it all. A free site from blogger is fantastic until you see someone else who has a blogroll. A blogroll is great until you see dynamic content that inserts the latest post from each blog in as well. A couple photos are fine until you see Flickr in action. And so on and so forth. There are a bunch of Open Source tools that handle most tasks that teachers need. However, like I said, we're greedy! We want more, and we want it to be easier. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the reality is that at some point you have to decide what's good enough to accomplish your primary goals. I think tools like Moodle and Drupal are definitely ample for now. It would be nice if flickr support were easy for a non-techie, but not everyone NEEDS to have the photos right there on the page. A link to a flickr account is good enough. Some of the greatest blogs I read are simply that, blogs :) No blogrolls, no flickr badges, just content!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 64.223.43.70
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 02/28/2005 08:20:16 PM
I agree completely, Bud, and it isn't a very big reach to do it with existing free software applications. Last year I rigged up a demo Plone site that integrated Bloglines like newsreading and Furl-esque bookmarking. The key to this stuff is starting with a full content management system and working down, rather than starting with blogging software and piling stuff on top of it. The demo isn't on the web right now for complicated reasons involving the district IT department. Anyhow, I put that aside now that I'm being paid to work on SchoolTool. In the fall SchoolTool will be ready for people to start building these kind of tools (although we don't have funding now for specifically blog/social software type stuff). It'll be a uniquely good platform for this work, since it will essentially be a student information system built into a sophisticated platform for content management systems.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: jwenzloff@misd.net
IP: 69.39.70.129
URL: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff
DATE: 02/28/2005 07:29:54 PM
Bud,
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree that it would be great if we could bring Flickr, Furl, and blogs together into one slick software package. I am concerned also because of filters in schools. I've found that some resources are blocked by filters now and more might be blocked in future.
jim
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TITLE: The Carnival Of Education: Week 5
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/03/carnival-of-education-week-5.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 03/09/2005 08:52:54 AM
We are pleased to present the fifth edition of The Carnival Of Education. What we have done is assemble a variety of interesting and informative posts from around the EduSphere (and one or two from the Larger 'Sphere) that have been submitted by vari...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: More on the retreat
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/27/2005 08:00:41 PM
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I mentioned that I spent the weekend at a writing retreat. At the retreat, a couple of my colleagues were curious about blogs and blogging, so I sent them here to take a look around. I also mentioned that they could get up and blogging very easily by hitting sites like Blogger or Blog-City or LiveJournal. I should have mentioned sites like this. But I didn't.
"Go to my blog," I told one colleague, "And I'll post the links there for you."
So, Stan, there you are.
Now, I could have sent these links to Stan in an e-mail, but then I couldn't have told you about the neat-o idea that Stan has (Only one of many neat-o ideas I've heard from the guy, which might be why he's the co-director of the CSUWP.). Stan is Stan McReynolds, media specialist at Lincoln Junior High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. He's got some students traveling to Europe later this year. He's also got some iTalk microphones. Stan put the two together and is now going to have his students record audio snippets of their trip on their iPods.
When he told me about his idea, I suggested that he should have the students blog from Europe to share their experiences as well as some of the audio they collect. We talked, too about soundseeing tours, popularized by Adam Curry, and how his junior high students could record a tour or two, if they wished. Flickr, the photo site that I am still experimenting with also came up. These students, from an Internet cafe, can very quickly and easily update their families and other interested folks as they have their adventure. Pretty cool travel journal, huh?
I did a little recording of my own on the retreat. Do you think there's an audience for teachers reading their own written work? That seems like a good educational podcast application if you ask me.
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AUTHOR: EdWonk
EMAIL: owlshome@earthlink.net
IP: 4.241.30.14
URL: http://www.educationwonk.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/02/2005 12:13:41 AM
Blogs offer such exciting potential for student development. I WISH that my California district would see the light and permit them. Down here in the desert, we are forever behind the curb, so maybe in time attitudes may change.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Writing Retreat
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 02/27/2005 07:48:43 PM
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I spent my weekend with some of the fine folks from the Colorado State University Writing Project, affectionately known as the CSUWP. We went up into the mountains on a writing retreat to enjoy some time together spent socializing and writing. I took the opportunity to begin drafting some of my thoughts about a blogging policy for my school district. I also took some time to do some personal writing which had absolutely nothing to do with teaching. That was a nice break.
I also managed to develop a full blown cold. Yuck. Thankfully, I have Monday off so that I can recover and dig into some of the thinking that I read just before the weekend.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Adolescence and Anonymity and Other Stuff
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 02/24/2005 06:36:30 AM
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In the midst of Will Richardson's last post, he mentions this one. Tom Hoffman writes that blogging is in its adolescence. In an earlier post here, I tried to speak to my frustrations about those bloggers writing as anonymous teachers online. Hoffman said it better than I could. He also says a great deal more in a very short space. My brain's still spinning. Read his post.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Bud and Blogs, 2.0
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/24/2005 06:22:45 AM
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Two days ago, I was blogging my understanding of blogs and what and how they can operate. I have noticed that I write something like this every few days -- I think partly because I get excited and the synapses begin to fire and I need a way to unload that excitement while I attempt to understand my thinking. Actually, that's one of the main reasons for this blog.
Anyway, something I said caught the eye of Will Richardson and his response made a lot of sense -- and sent my synapses firing all over again. You should read his post before you attempt to read the rest of this one -- it'll be a whole lot easier on all of us.
I said:
Student blogging provides a
showcase for their best work, a playground for working with new ideas,
and a place to collaborate with other students, teachers and schools.
The more I work with and discover about blogs, the more I realize that
they are an entirely new way of thinking -- something like the Swiss
Army Knife of the Internet. A student blogger could be a podcaster, an
artist, a political scientist, a technophile, a poet, a chemist or
whatever. The blog is the management, not the content.
Will writes:
To me, the true power and potential of Weblogs is the act that it
facilitates, the blogging, not the structure it provides. That is not
to say the structure isn't a good thing. But it's not the best thing,
and I guess I'm not seeing very many new people using it in that best
way. Barbara and Anne
win gold medals, and there are a handful of others out there who are
teaching kids the act of blogging that will serve them well into their
adult lives. But much of what I'm seeing from the teachers who are
starting to explore the tool goes the way of management, not content.
And:
But the one thing the blog allows me to do that I could not do easily
in my classroom before is to link, to connect ideas, to make
transparent my thinking about those ideas, and to have others link to
them and do the same. I've been down this road before, I know, many
times in fact. But it is the essential piece of Weblogs to me: blogs
allow me to create content in ways I could not before, not just
post what I could create otherwise in a different form. And in the
essence of that creation I use and learn all of those skills that will
serve me in my lifelong learning that were (I think) much more difficult for me to learn before:
close reading, critical thinking about information, clear and concise
writing for a real audience, editing, and reflection, all of it
understanding that whatever truth I may put forth will continue to be
negotiated by readers and more reading. This, by the very nature of the
process, develops reading, writing, information, collaboration and
computing literacies, literacies which I think most of us would agree
are going to be crucial in navigating what's ahead.
And he's exactly right, of course. He's stretching my brain -- and hopefully, the brain of lots of other people. See, I think that I need to lay out here several words and their definitions, as suggested by Will's post, and I need to start using them in this way. There is a "blog," a noun, which is what this space is called. It's composed of my links, my posts, the silly picture of me playing the guitar in the corner, etc. The blog is the management tool that I'm thinking about and have previously discussed.
There's also "blogging" the verb, which is where I think Will's mind is, and mine's still catching up. Blogging is that set of skills that he talks about. It's the reason why I want the students that I work with to use blogs -- in the end. But I don't think that many of them will start with that skill.
If I want my kids to begin blogging, they need to establish a blog, the space in which they can create and think, the thought lab that these spaces should be. Then, as they get their feet wet in the blogosphere, they can, with some instruction and some reading (okay, maybe lots of both) dig into blogging, the way of thinking. By that way of thinking, it might be that many students create blogs, but never grasp blogging. Of course, the same is true now of students in my writing classes. They might complete a research paper, but never grasp that the texts they quoted are speaking to each other, just as the text the student writes is speaking back to them.
The blog, then is the scaffold, or perhaps even the actual Vygotskian Zone of Proximal Development, that can lead to blogging (the set of thinking skills).
So, yes, for me, at least in these beginning stages, the blog will be the content management system, to some degree. But the end product, I hope, will be the set of thinking and learning skills hiding inside "blogging." Blogs are management, blogging is content.
An example. One of my main goals for using blogs with my students is the creation of an online portfolio of student work. My students currently keeps portfolios in manila folders on teachers' desks, and each quarter they write a reflective piece that explains why they are proud of their work and what they've learned from it. Yes, some of this online portfolio will consist of students posting their previous schoolwork onto a blog. But that's really the first step. I want the students to use the blog to record their reflections on their work over time. I want them to use links to begin to point out how their different assignments and projects speak to one another. I want them to discover what others have written or thought about the ideas they are working with and to include that information in their reflections. I think that's the blogging that Will is talking about, and it's where I'm hoping to get to. I just need the blogs to manage it all.
This is all still draft thinking. I'll probably refine and/or change my mind several more times. Actually, I'll definitely do that. The exciting thing is that this space exists for me to have this conversation.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pat Z.
EMAIL: pzearfoss@gmail.com
IP: 130.85.155.213
URL: http://pzearfoss.blogspot.com
DATE: 03/03/2005 06:27:43 AM
Great Article!
In a time when few people keep journals or diaries, blogging can be a way for anyone to enchance and use their reading/writing skills.
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PING:
TITLE: From The Notepad Of Bud, A Level 5 Teacher
URL: http://level5.typepad.com/level5_blog/2005/03/from_the_notepa.html
IP: 66.151.149.17
BLOG NAME: Level5 Blog
DATE: 03/02/2005 05:10:56 AM
I FOUND BUD THE TEACHER at this week's Carnival of Education from EdWonks.
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TITLE: The Carnival Of Education: Week 4
URL: http://educationwonk.blogspot.com/2005/03/carnival-of-education-week-4.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: The Education Wonks
DATE: 03/02/2005 03:26:36 AM
We are pleased to present the fourth edition of The Carnival Of Education. What we have done is assemble a variety of interesting and informative posts from around the EduSphere (and one or two from the Larger 'Sphere) that have been submitted by var...
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Now that's clever
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/23/2005 05:59:11 AM
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This comes via engadget:
We know that small-town libraries have shed their image as fusty repositories of moldering encyclopedias and are now
high-tech temples of e-learning, but we were still impressed to find out that at least one library has come up with a
novel way to get teens into libraries: put audiobooks onto iPod Shuffles. We have it on good word that the South
Huntington Public Library in Suffolk County, New York, is doing just that. They apparently have a handful of Shuffles,
pre-loaded with books, and are planning to add more. Given the ongoing
Shuffle shortage (even Apple’s online store has a
two-week delay on shipping them), we’re surprised that the library has any at all to share; let’s hope for their sake
that borrowers don’t “forget” to return them.
Somebody at that library is thinking. One of my students came to school yesterday with a brand new iPod Shuffle. How cool would it be if I had audio content that I could give to her to check out? What if she were in one of my classes and was a struggling reader? If I could just take her over to my computer and upload the audio version of the book we were reading, that would be really handy.
It might also be a violation of copyright -- but it'd still be a great tool if I could get around that somehow. Probably, someone out there already knows how. If so, could you share that info?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogs shouldn't be a novelty
STATUS: Draft
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 02/22/2005 06:50:44 AM
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An addendum. Blogs are different from the other instructional technologies that I have used. many of thsoe technologies do not provide anything really "new" to the user . . .
FINISH THIS POST AND GET ONLINE TODAY
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogs ARE Dreamy
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 02/22/2005 06:19:00 AM
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I've been corresponding (does one e-mail full of questions count as corresponding? for our purposes here, it does) with Hipteacher, an anonymous teacher blogger. She recently sent me some information about how she uses blogging with her students, and it was very helpful. What was "dreamy" though, to borrow a phrase, was the following paragraph that she added to her reply when she decided to post said reply to her own blog:
I forgot to mention one long-term positive I recently had the
pleasure of experiencing. I helped Taiwanese Superhero set up a blog
and showed her some student blogs during an intensely boring meeting
before the school year started. She loved the medium right away and
started using blogs with both her general and remedial classes. All of
our 9th graders did their research "papers" on blogs. So this semester,
I got several of her students, and she got several of mine. The first
day we went in the lab to learn about blogs and get set up, her
students from last semester proudly proclaimed their expertise, showed
off their lengthy blog writing to the class and helped assist other
students with starting their blogs.
If every teacher used blogs, our kids could really have a kick-butt
record of their progress in writing and in high school. Maybe they
would continue to comment on the work of kids who aren't in their
classes anymore. Maybe it could be common ground between teachers and
subjects. Maybe it could be dreamy.
Her description of blogging over several years and different teachers is exactly what I am hoping to do with the blogs at our school. Here's my basic idea, which I may or may not have posted here: I'd like to give each student a blog when they enter high school. They'll be required to use the blog for some portfolio postings that the entire school will do (and which can be, using RSS, siphoned off onto a school portfolio page -- something like an online student work showcase). The students are also free to use the blogs for other uses -- some personal, some perhaps suggested or required by their other teachers. When the student leaves, we keep the blog active for a year or so and then we ask a hosting company, or perhaps even our school district, to take over the hosting of the blog, and at that point, maybe the student is charged a subscription fee, much like using Typepad or Hosted Manila. The blog would then split off of the school hosted site and become a tool that a student can use in whatever new pursuit that they might have. But, the blog could still be a link back to the high school -- a virtual reunion waiting to happen the moment anyone hit "aggregate" on their aggregators.
Student blogging provides a showcase for their best work, a playground for working with new ideas, and a place to collaborate with other students, teachers and schools. The more I work with and discover about blogs, the more I realize that they are an entirely new way of thinking -- something like the Swiss Army Knife of the Internet. A student blogger could be a podcaster, an artist, a political scientist, a technophile, a poet, a chemist or whatever. The blog is the management, not the content. Eureka!
Dreamy, indeed.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Amanda
EMAIL: juxtaposed17@yahoo.com
IP: 64.12.116.196
URL: http://www.pluggedinteacher.com
DATE: 10/25/2005 11:10:07 AM
I really enjoy your site and I just wanted to share my blog with your readers. I recently started www.PluggedInTeacher.com. It is dedicated to providing fun and valuable info. for teachers (with a focus on technology). Nothing to sell, it's just cool stuff teachers might like to hear about. If you guys have any suggestions for me, please let me know!
Thanks so much,
Amanda
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mark
EMAIL: markm@wordofgrace.org
IP: 65.107.224.54
URL:
DATE: 08/12/2005 02:21:52 PM
I thought it would be cool to hear your thoughts on media in education.
My wife is a teacher and she finds that kids are becoming more media dependent.
They grow up on the computer playing games surfing the next and watching TV, yet most teachers teach (and in some cases required to teach) the old fashioned way by lecture.
I know apple has done a lot of research on this and so has the Gates Foundation, the Gates foundation even said American High school are becoming obsolete, in the way they teach and measure success.
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PING:
TITLE: ALL THE URLS are belong to us.
URL: http://blogs.msdn.com/frankarr/archive/2005/09/02/459599.aspx
IP: 209.34.241.64
BLOG NAME: frankarr - an aussie microsoft blogger
DATE: 09/01/2005 08:44:47 PM
Betsy sent me the urls mentioned from cabana session we held on Thursday. Apologies for formatting, it's...
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TITLE: Weblog: content, management, techniek, conversatie?
URL: http://hmestrum.blogs.com/my_weblog/2005/02/weblog_content_.html
IP: 66.151.149.17
BLOG NAME: Hans on Experience
DATE: 02/24/2005 05:48:07 AM
Ik mis de creativiteit, de passie, de emotie, ofwel weblogs als Imagineering instrument. Ik lees de laatste tijd nogal wat postings over wat nu eigenlijk het belangrijkste is bij weblogs: de content, het management,de techniek, de tools of geld verdienen?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: President's Day
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 02/21/2005 08:56:42 AM
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I'm enjoying the day off today with family -- although I'm using the day to catch up on a variety of projects -- so it's not really a day "off." Oh well.
Started the President's Day holiday with two ex-presidents -- George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- they were talking about their tsunami tour. I wish more politicians could sit down together like that -- too bad a world tragedy had to occur for that to happen.
I'm catching up on e-mail today, too. Got some responses from some inquiries I made to teachers using blogs with student s-- more on that to come.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Technological Gutcheck
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/18/2005 06:14:31 AM
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I added Future Tense, a short technology program, to my ipodder client the other day. I've been enjoying the three minutes or so of tech news. Monday's edition of the show really caught my ear -- so much so that I played it for some students at school yesterday. Here's the summary from the website:
A recent study of European school children found that students who
use computers extensively perform worse in math and reading.
The study, conducted by the CESifo economic research group in Munich,
contradicts some earlier work which suggests computers boost grades.
Critics of classroom tech say the new research does a better job of
controlling for demographic factors. Researchers took into account that
computer-using students tend to come from more affluent,
better-educated families, and those students tend to do better on tests.
The question this study immediately brings to mind is what were these students doing with computers? If they were simply typing papers on them, then it makes perfect sense that there were no testing benefits. A computer used simply as a typewriter is not much of a writing tool. Nor is a computer used solely for web browsing -- which far too many people -- and some teachers -- call "research."
This piece was an eye-opener, and a good reminder. Since I've begun my career (only two and a half years ago, mind you), I have been certain that one of the keys to student achievement is access to technology. Computers and the Internet are where our society is heading. I know that students who are taught how to access, evaluate and analyze information from a variety of sources are going to be well prepared for life after school, whether they go on to college or they attend trade school or they jump right into the job market. But sitting them down in front of a computer is not enough. Their learning has to be focused. This short radio program reminded me of that.
Also, the show got me thinking again about what I do with computers in the classroom. I've made some mistakes. I remember thinking at one point that if only my students read a few good newspaper stories, they could write their own. Of course, it's not that simple. I think that my curriculum involving computers is a solid one. Mostly. But you can bet I'm headed over to read that study to see what improvements I can make. I'm also headed off to check out Thomas Oppenheimer's book, The Flickering Mind: Saving Education from the False Promise of Technology. Oppenheimer was the guest on the program. More on what I discover later.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Been Thinking
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/16/2005 06:08:52 AM
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I've been thinking about what a school district policy on blogs would look like -- and what I might want to ensure does not end up in the policy. One or two thoughts on this follow.
One thing that I think is essential with students and blogging is that the students have an open forum for conversation and publishing their work. The meat of blogging is the ability to express. I do not think that we can offer blogging and then put a tight leash on what students can and cannot say. Seems to me that blogs are more like student publications than they are school district websites. But, if the school district owns the "press," then can the student still have those freedoms?
The answer is, I think, that yes, they can have those freedoms, so long as the blogs are considered forums and not websites. Such freedom to express and speak and define some maybe even most) of their content on a blog is essential.
But -- that does not mean that a student blog can become a place where a kid can trash another kid, or make racially offensive comments, or threaten violence. Either someone in the district needs to have the ability to delete blatantly offensive posts or all posts might need a place to filter through before getting published. However, either idea strikes me as censorship. There must be a third or a fourth option that I haven't yet figured out. There must be a way to balance the rights of students and the responsibilities of the school district in such a way that everyone wins and the students don't feel like they are only playing at publishing. Maybe one way to do this is by allowing -- or even downright assisting -- students in the creation of personal blogs outside of the sphere of the school. These personal blogs can be used for venting or other types of writing that could get tricky in school. Teaching students when to talk/write one way and when to talk/write another is an important task -- maybe multiple blogs is part of the answer.
On top of my concerns about "appropriateness" (I really, really hate that term, by the way -- it seems an artificial way of approaching student expression), I worry, too, about student safety. I think, though, that a little time spent in a classroom on how to protect yourself online can minimize this concern.
I am currently searching the web for school districts using blogs and any policy language that exists to regulate such activity. If you know of any policies, or have any suggestions, feel free to drop me a line.
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AUTHOR: Deb
EMAIL: littlemissteacher@gmail.com
IP: 203.144.160.245
URL: http://littlemissteacher.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/28/2005 10:53:22 AM
It sounds like student blogging is pretty common where you are. I am only just getting started on my own blog, but am thinking about getting my class to use one too.
What age do you think they could start? My children are 7/8 year olds. Would it be appropriate?
Deb
http://littlemissteacher.blogspot.com
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AUTHOR: Bill
EMAIL: uglicoyote@gmail.com
IP: 168.103.40.98
URL: http://wildwilliam.blogspot.com
DATE: 02/22/2005 08:19:36 PM
Thoughtful comments. I agree that you must allow students a great deal of autonomy, but I don't think that filtering or in some way exerting some "guidance" over what they post should neccesarily be viewed as censorship. I students are using the school's computers and servers, then they are not "independent" publishers. Book publishers don't allow authors to publish anything that might be construed as libelous, or slanderous. Newspaper owners exert editorial control over their newspapers.If the school is the "publisher" of the student's writing, then the schoo has the right to exert some control That right is limited, of course and should be exercised with restraint. The editor at a newspaper isn't viewed as a censor, nor should she be.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Blogging is coming to my district
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 02/14/2005 05:24:58 PM
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Had a very successful meeting this morning with a school district technology educator. I am pleased to report that blogs have a future in my district. Quite possibly a very bright one at that. The next step is to hammer out some technology details and to set some ground rules. I need to make sure that I am protecting my students while still honoring their freedoms and rights and school district policy. It's a tricky tightrope -- but, based on my conversations of late, a manageable one.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Free community wireless
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 02/13/2005 10:04:50 AM
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I was skimming the Longmont (Colorado) Daily Times Call this morning, and I discovered that there's a group looking to take the city wireless. Seems like a neat idea -- basically, those interested in "donating" wireless access can do so via a system of antennas setup around the city. Cool.
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AUTHOR: mackinaw
EMAIL: hugh@dosemagazine.com
IP: 65.93.127.218
URL: http://dosemagazine.blogsome.com
DATE: 02/16/2005 06:20:39 PM
see ilesansfil.org ... i think (hope) there is a growing number of such commnity groups.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: teachers with blogs who want to keep their jobs
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 02/11/2005 09:06:08 PM
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I posted over the weekend about how I'm not much for anonymity. I've also mentioned that I worry sometimes about what's okay and not okay to talk about in this space. Looks like the events of the blogosphere have caught up with my thinking.
In response to a request, Will Richardson has come to the rescue. These are his suggested guidelines for keeping a teacher blog (see his excellent thinking on this matter in his post:
1. Decide carefully if you want to create a public space for your ideas
with your name on it. Maybe going anonymous would be better. There are
a couple of great anonymous teacher blogs out there, Hipteacher among them.
2. When you write, assume it will be read by the very people you may not want to read it. Think about the consequences.
3. As much as possible, blog on your own time with your own equipment.
4. Tell the truth. If you can't, don't write.
5. Ask people's permission before you write about them in your blog,
especially if it revolves around some struggle that you might feel
worth reflecting upon or sharing with your audience.
6. If you do use a blog for professional reflection or opinion, my
personal wish is that you take the time to present those ideas well.
I'm not perfect when it comes to misspellings or errors, but I try to
read everything at least twice if not three times before publishing.
7. Start simple, and find your groove. If you just post about news and
don't add much in the way of commentary at the start, it will give you
time to develop your voice.
8. Again, if you decide to blog openly, don't try to hide that fact from peers or supervisors.
9. If you think people may have an issue with your blog, ask first, and make your decisions based on the feedback you get.
10. If you find yourself looking over your shoulder, don't blog.
I really believe in the value of blogs and blogging for professional
growth and reflection. But I can understand the reluctance of many
teachers to want to try it. The transparency is scary. The concept of
open-text for one's ideas and experiences is very different from what
most are used to. Each of us has to weigh the benefits against the
risks, real or perceived.
I believe that this space should be public -- and that teachers should be thinking publicly about their teaching -- in part to be accountable and in part as a way to further educate the public on just what it is that we do. Such transparency and openness have educational potential for our students and their families, and also for those legislators who believe that they are experts in school matters as they once attended a school a lifetime ago.
I teach in a public school. I am accountable to the public. That's fine -- but I want this society to have as much information as possible when thinking about and evaluating schools. My classroom door is usually open; so, too, is this blog.
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AUTHOR: Lara
EMAIL: Lara@webstersclassroom.com
IP: 75.95.253.77
URL: http://webstersclassroom.com/
DATE: 02/28/2008 02:10:21 PM
I think that blogging is a great support system for all teahers. Not only can we share lesson plans and ideas, but we also have a place to go that lets us know that others are having the same experiences that we are!
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AUTHOR: Airhead
EMAIL: 9v8wk7zfhc205r4@temporaryinbox.com
IP: 74.230.182.55
URL:
DATE: 04/07/2007 09:17:25 AM
> I find that most teachers these days do not care...
Gosh, Kathy, I think your post probably tells us more about you than it does your children's teachers. But then, I am just an airhead who paid a homeless person blah, blah, blah.
Why don't you go start that parents' blog now? I can't wait to mock you in the staff room at my school.
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AUTHOR: Kathy
EMAIL: imkat693@verizon.net
IP: 141.149.61.60
URL:
DATE: 03/28/2005 07:45:54 PM
I think I should start a parent Blog. I find that most teachers these days do not care about their students, they care about what others think of them. In my children's school the teachers are airheads. I don't know how they got their jobs. I think more teachers pay homeless people to take their tests than we even know.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mechelle
EMAIL: cello512@yahoo.com
IP: 152.163.100.196
URL: http://bloglawclassroom.blogspot.com/
DATE: 03/13/2005 10:13:45 PM
Hey Teacher Bud,
I really like your blog! It's very helpful and informative. I'm a middle school special education teacher and am going to start using blogs in the classroom to motivate my kids with their writing. Also, the information from the blogs will be used as apart of my research for my grad project. I'm new to blogging and am still trying to figure out the legalities...might you know of any good sites for the law & blogs? If you can, please check out my blog.
http://bloglawclassroom.blogspot.com/
Thanks!
Take Care,
Mechelle : )
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AUTHOR: Tom Hoffman
EMAIL: tom.hoffman@gmail.com
IP: 66.63.124.237
URL: http://tuttlesvc.org
DATE: 02/24/2005 08:28:48 PM
I've been thinking this post by Chris Lehmann is a particularly good example of how to do non-anonymous blogging about your school: http://www.beaconschool.org/~clehmann/MT/archives/003007.php
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Students are the Teachers
STATUS: Draft
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/11/2005 12:01:19 PM
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I did a bit of work with the teachers in my building today on using our new computer lab. I am continually amazed at how much we teachers have to learn about technology. Our students understand the technology, but don't have a grasp of the content like we do. The uneasiness that I feel when facing a challenging bit of technology is much the same, perhaps, as what students feel when I assign a short story to read.
Our students will have to lead the way on technology --
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A (New) Teacher Burned
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/09/2005 03:04:00 PM
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Bill Johnson of the Rocky Mountain News, a columnist I always make sure to read, weighs in today on lots of the craziness going on in Colorado. I'll let you discover most of the craziness for yourself. His mention of a school administrator in Norwood, Colorado, who both banned a book and apologized for the ban in the same week is interesting because of a short statement near the end of the column:
He {Luis Torres, a professor at Metropolitan State in Denver} worries even more about the freshman
English teacher who put the book on the reading list in the first
place. The teacher initially apologized.
"It is very hard on young teachers, especially one who thought
he or she was doing something they thought was good. To get
reprimanded, to see a book they recommended destroyed, has got to be
hard to take," Luis Torres said.
Bless Me, Ultima, he said, is a "totally beautiful,
poetic book, which is why young people respond to it. This teacher
should be rewarded for recognizing something that is a cultural
treasure."
Bob Conder {the Norwood administrator} has said the teacher will not be disciplined.
Given the state of things today, if I am that teacher, I might be thinking about another job.
Better yet, another career.
I wouldn't blame that unnamed teacher if he or she wanted to leave. Not one bit. I can't imagine measuring every future decision with the yardstick of a book banning situation. What incentive does that teacher have to push the boundaries of her classroom, to search for texts that will excite and inspire his or her students? Will he or she be able to trust the backing of the administration the next time that he or she wants to teach something edgy?
Or will the teacher play it safe and stick to the sterile anthologies and yellowing book room books from now on? I hope that professional can just brush this experience off. Keep your eyes on these situations. This garbage is why new teachers aren't sticking with teaching.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: No Podcasts here
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 02/09/2005 01:52:59 PM
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For some reason, a recent post to this blog has been labeled as a podcast and is linked from audio.weblogs.com. Sorry if you came here looking for a new podcast -- I don't have any.
Yet.
But I would like to know why I've been linked to from that site. How does that happen? Does anyone know? My guess, not that you asked, is that the inserted .doc file in the linked post sets off some sort of enclosure alarm for an aggregator bot or something somewhere. I had hoped that my introduction to the podcasting community was a little less, um, lame.
Speaking of lame -- "an aggregator bot or something somewhere"?
I need technology help.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Shake that spear
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/08/2005 08:49:47 AM
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I've been team-teaching a Shakespeare class this quarter, and I've found a site that has the complete works of William Shakespeare in one place. Check it out.
We'll be using the site today as a place for students to pull quotes from Hamlet as they complete a double-entry journal (Here's
the easy-cheesy template that we'll be giving them). The thinking here is that we'd rather they were writing about their response to the text rather than spending all of their time typing the text that they are responding to. We're hoping to have our students put together their own abbreviated scenes from the play, using these double-entry journals as a place to explain why they kept certain lines and got rid of other ones.
Read more about double-entry journals here, here, or here. Tell me how you'd rework this activity here.
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AUTHOR: helen
EMAIL:
IP: 66.211.134.194
URL:
DATE: 10/13/2005 08:45:38 AM
I think that is a good idea
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AUTHOR:
EMAIL:
IP: 208.158.5.123
URL:
DATE: 04/13/2005 03:39:56 PM
gjuyi76 uyjuyi jui7ujuyj yu7u789p09 il uko8iuj u7u7yhy 77 7uyjyjhgfhjdxjssa7 thn eu tht 6tyb 65 r r5t5 y5y55g 5y5 y6ujh yjjyhas
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Chatting Away
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/07/2005 01:54:11 PM
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My science fiction class was in the computer lab today (We have 20 computers for 100 students and I want to get the entire school blogging . . .but that's another story.). They were working on their postings for our discussion board. Actually, most of them were in the chat room on the discussion board site, typing away.
When I checked in, I discovered that they were all talking/chatting/typing about the story from the class. Just like I hoped they would.
I often turn the chatroom on just to see what might happen -- but today was one of the more successful days with it. Some days, I have to shut it down to get work done. I want to leave the discussion board in favor of the blog -- but I'll miss the chat room.
Somebody has to know -- where can I find a chatroom to build into my blog?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Halftime
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 02/06/2005 06:21:27 PM
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It's only halftime -- and the "What was the best commercial?" stuff has already started. Just like everything else -- we don't give life enough time before we jump in to explain it to everybody.
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AUTHOR: W
EMAIL: whit@pobox.com
IP: 207.140.148.33
URL: http://whit.typepad.com
DATE: 02/06/2005 06:29:28 PM
Good point. On the other hand, you are blogging about it in real time, and I am reading about it in real time, so I suspect we are all part of the problem!
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Who needs technology?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 02/06/2005 10:53:18 AM
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A Greeley principal had a problem with speeders in front of his school. He couldn't wait until an expensive solution could be implemented -- so he went old school. I'm impressed.
At pickup and drop-off times, he walks out by the road — and points an empty plastic milk jug at cars going by.
The drivers think he's a cop holding a radar gun, and they slow right down.
In the meantime, the school is accepting donations toward buying the radar sign.
Well done.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Anonymity? Really?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teacher Blogging
DATE: 02/06/2005 10:38:03 AM
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I've been reading several teacher blogs over the weekend, and I keep seeing again and again that folks are staying anonymous -- they're not identifying themselves or their locations for fear of retribution or personal attack or . . .well, I'm not sure what else.
Here is one example of what I am seeing in regards to people wanting to be anonymous in their blogs:
A note about being anonymous: It is a must. I understand that
being and remaining anonymous makes my blog a little less personal.
Last year I came across a then current student's weblog which had
threatening words towards me included in an entry; my district would do
nothing to resolve this and she never found out I knew about her words.
The police report I made had a non-result.
Not that I intend to make threatening remarks, but due to the incident, I do find it imperative to remain anonymous.
I guess I understand if someone is afraid of retribution, and this is a bad example of what I am talking about, but all this talk of anonymity has me wondering just what it is that teachers have to say that needs to be said anonymously.
In general, hiding behind a veil of secrecy when making a comment or sharing an idea makes me uncomfortable. I don't expect everyone to agree with me or to like what I have to say all the time -- but I demand that people who have ideas or concerns to address do so in a professional manner. I do not respect the criticisms of someone who doesn't share their name and allow for a dialog. The very nature of a teacher blog to me is scary -- it is the blurring or the private and the public, it is walking a tightrope between the two. I'm opening myself up -- sharing ideas and concerns and frustrations and what's going on in the world of my teaching. I must protect my students and their identities, but still, I've got to be able to talk about my practice and what informs it. If I wanted to use this space simply to moan and complain about the students in my care, well, then I should buy a can of spray paint and a ski mask. And maybe some time with a therapist.
Professional talk is hard -- but so are the issues that we're talking about. Heck, you need only look at my previous post to see that I am uncomfortable here sometimes -- and that anonymity would make keeping a blog that much easier. But it really wouldn't, because then I could never mention my blog and I'd have to hide that at school. What good does keeping one more secret do?
Because I probably don't understand the issue of online anonymity in a teaching blog, I'm asking anyone who would argue that teachers need anonymous space on the Internet -- please explain it to me. I will be happy to reprint your comments in this space -- but let's have the conversation. I need to understand this.
Heck, I'll even guarantee your anonymity -- even though I don't yet get why you need it.
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AUTHOR: Amy
EMAIL: ajculey@hotmail.com
IP: 70.129.125.173
URL: http://amy.culeyville.com
DATE: 10/14/2007 12:19:28 AM
I just began a teaching blog recently. It's on a site with my name attached. I was not worried about this at all, but suddenly as I've been mentioning to people that I started a blog, I'm hearing a lot of cautionary words about going anonymous to protect myself and my job. I too am not much for anonymity; I feel like I have a lot to say about the teaching profession and the reality that we face on a daily basis. If I choose to blog under a fictional name, who is to say that the information shared is not fictional as well? Anonymity places a veil between the reader and the blogger and leaves a lot of unanswered questions in its wake. And yet... I love teaching and certainly do not wish to sacrifice my future in the classroom over a blogging issue. Do I not have the right to share my experiences with others, simply because I am a teacher? Have I sacrificed the freedom of speech that everyone else takes for granted simply by virtue of the profession I have chosen to embrace?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Parent Night
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 02/03/2005 08:45:52 AM
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Tonight is parent night at our school. It's a chance for us to meet with our parents, show tem around the school, and talk to them about our program. "Alternative high school" is a label drenched in assumption -- some accurate, others not so accurate -- and tonight we get to address some of them. But anticipating tonight makes me wonder about this blog and whether or not it can/should be a tool for parents. I wonder if it is a good thing that I am reflecting in such a public space.
In theory, such a public reflection serves to make my teaching and my pedagogy more transparent -- although maybe uncomfortable for me and for parents and possibly students at times. But is uncomfortable necessarily wrong? Maybe sometimes it is easier and more desirable to keep secrets, or at least to keep some things private.
Maybe not. I am curious to know how other teachers balance their public blogs and their private teaching moments. What middle ground, if any, exists? Is it smart to "publish" concerns that I have in a space where I am identifiable? If I am worried about parents, shouldn't I, too, be worried about administrative response to this space? Teachers have doubts and frustrations, just like everybody else. Shouldn't we be talking about them?
Obviously, personal information about students is a no-no for this space -- but what about general examples for the purposes of illustrating or attempting to better understand my work?
This could very quickly become crippling.
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AUTHOR: Danielle
EMAIL: daniellelkelly@gmail.com
IP: 67.161.152.180
URL:
DATE: 02/03/2005 09:32:40 PM
Bud,
Frustration is something everyone deals with, and unforunately, is not an easy thing to release, especially into a publicly viewable medium. Although, it is public, and as an American, you stand under the first ammendment of free speech, and this is written off school time; comments that could come from students, parents, and administrators are just that, comments, as long as you stick with not mentioning names.
And, being uncomfortable is portrayed and felt as being wrong because of the certain society most of us live in, but it’s just another form of adjustment to something new, or a change.
The fact of secrets and privacy, though, are on personal basis and personal opinion, and goes hand in hand with the idea of being uncomfortable. Your comfort level to share a secret, or something private may differ from someone elses comfort level. Just like something I say could be beyond someone elses comfort level.
The problems that are being brought forth are ones of opinion and personal levels of the ideas. My suggestion is to go with the flow, see how you feel, and go on the feedback.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Publishing and the Blogging Community
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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ALLOW PINGS: 1
CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 02/03/2005 05:49:47 AM
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When I read an article in a journal, I often feel inclined to communicate with the author, particularly if I liked or was inspired or really, really disagreed with the piece. But there are so many steps to go through to get that letter or e-mail out into the world. One more advantage of blogging for my students, as I am discovering for myself, is that it becomes quite easy to hit an "e-mail me" link and quickly turn a one-way post into a two-way conversation.
Heck -- such communication can also become a handy form of boosting readership for me -- particularly when the person to whom you are writing decides to mention your blog in his or her own. Such is the case with Will Richardson -- who mentioned this blog on his yesterday. By the way, he has a great feed of educational blogs -- it's worth taking a peek. The excitement of seeing someone else responding to and acknowledging my little place on the Internet is, well, exciting.
I see once again why publishing my students work has so much potential for motivating them. I am invigorated by the simplest of mentions.
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TITLE: Something I actually heard a student say today
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Teaching Miscellany
DATE: 02/02/2005 04:34:58 PM
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"I ate a booger for a dollar."
I work at a high school.
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AUTHOR: Scott Meech
EMAIL: scott@smeech.net
IP: 63.245.89.165
URL: http://www.smeech.net
DATE: 02/03/2005 07:06:03 AM
I almost fell of my chair laughing so hard. Hilarious stuff....
I currently work in Honduras in the most affluent school here. I actually had a student try to get out of his homework assignment because his maid didn't put enough time into his homework for him and she spells too many words wrong.
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TITLE: Puhllleazzzeee can we print this?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/31/2005 10:09:14 PM
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This is why I have a job.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Deadline!
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 01/31/2005 09:58:40 PM
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Tonight, I am finishing up a piece of writing that my wife and I owe our editor. It's overdue -- but we did have a baby a month ago. That's worth some extra time, right? Our kind and generous editor thought so.
Actually - - I can't believe that my wife and I have this writing gig. It's perhaps the biggest professional honor that I could get.
And so instead of finishing up that piece, I'm writing a blog post here about how much writing for deadline freaks me out. Figures.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Uh oh
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Web/Tech
DATE: 01/31/2005 04:21:50 PM
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Oh, dear.
I'm tempted to say something snarky or otherwise clever -- but what if they're reading?
Nice military computers.
See Spot run. For his life.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Discussion Boards are so 20th Century
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/31/2005 06:02:04 AM
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I am currently using a discussion board to connect some of my students with students at another school three hours or so away. I love that we can "get together" via the Internet and talk about the books we're reading and what's going on in our lives. I think the discussion board is good practice at communication.
But it's not so user friendly sometimes. Wouldn't an RSS subscription to the blogs of all of the students involved in our online exchange be a much easier tool for students to use? They would spend less time searching for comments and more time responding to those comments that interest them. I know I've said this before, but thanks to Will Richardson, I can't stop thinking about it. Now if only I had time to catch up on the other great ideas at his blog.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Here Comes the Week
STATUS: Publish
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DATE: 01/30/2005 08:55:38 PM
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It's Sunday night, the dishes are done, the baby's sleeping. It's time for me to get to work. I spent some time this afternoon looking for portable digital music players. Seems to me like if I'm going to want my students creating podcasts that involve interviews, I'm going to want them to be able to leave the safety of the computer lab.
Of course, I don't yet have any students working on podcasts. Which is the really beautiful and problematic piece, isn't it? I don't yet know what can and will go wrong, who I will ultimately offend or confuse, or if this silly notion is even a good idea. Isn't that the great thing about any new teaching idea or strategy? When the brain is pumping, fresh ideas are rubbing against even fresher ideas, and the friction created give you sparks of excitement that are self-sustaining. And then you go into the classroom with that great idea to see if it will soar or splatter. My gut is already knotting just thinking about failure here.
I used to not quite understand how someone could get so personal and introspective on the Internet. Now I get it. Rereading this post helps me to understand how easy that can be. It's times like this I hope that no one is "listening."
But if you are . . .would you mind letting me know?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Small Success
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 01/30/2005 11:33:58 AM
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I had a small moment of excitement on Thursday night. I took some recordings of my students reading their poetry on a local radio station, some techno music and that Audacity software and made my first digital audio production. The two minute file, which I won't release until I get permission from those kids involved, was a hit with the other teachers at school. It's amateurish, silly, and, frankly, not going to win any awards or accolades from anyone other than my kids. But I recorded it and learned the software, proving that I can teach kids to do this sort of work at school for very little money.
Next step -- get some good microphones. I think I've got a lead on some and the money to buy them -- but, as always, I'm open to any recommendations from those of you who know this stuff better than I (that's just about everyone.)
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: The Ominous Whiteboard
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 01/28/2005 06:06:43 AM
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When I walked into school, there it was. Someone had written, in dry erase pen in the center of the empty board, one simple word:
"Blog"
You know something has potential to reach students when it so quickly becomes graffiti.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Getting Started with RSS? Check this out
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 01/26/2005 08:23:12 AM
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Are you a teacher who wants to know more about RSS? Maybe you're interested in expanding your knowledge base, or eager to check out the good stuff? Me, too. This little manual, put together by Will Richardson, is pretty handy.
He, and many others, have done much or the groundwork that will get this stuff in the classroom. Now all we've got to do is to convince people to try it. I have been given permission to do just that for nine weeks this spring. In my talks with students about this elective, they have some great ideas -- and many of them have more knowledge than I have.
This keeps getting more and more exciting.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Developing blogging habits
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 01/26/2005 06:09:00 AM
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It is sometimes hard to find the time to post, given all the responsibilities that I have at school and home. I am interested in knowing how others find this time. Heck -- I feel guilty posting at work, even though I think this blog is fast becoming a teaching reflection journal for me, and that can only serve to help my teaching.
Reading, too, is getting difficult. There seem to be so many interesting teacher blogs out there -- and I know I'm only scratching the surface. I'd love to know what tools or strategies others of you are using to manage your time so as to be an effective and an informed blogger. I suspect my students, once I introduce classroom blogs, will be interested in these strategies, too.
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AUTHOR: Natalie
EMAIL: Natalie.Barnes@comcast.net
IP: 129.82.250.45
URL:
DATE: 01/26/2005 12:15:52 PM
Bud, I left a comment on the Fark weblog. Didn't know if you checked backwards very far.
Natalie
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Lots to read out there.
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
DATE: 01/26/2005 06:00:47 AM
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In between fiddling with podcast feeds -- I think I'm getting close, but it's time to get some RSS help -- I have been scanning the educational blogs that are out there. Man, are there plenty!
I've found that Weblogg-ed News has found its way into my aggregator. And I'm reading the archives. And my brain is spinning by what's to be found there. For example, as I"m thinking about student portfolio publishing at my school, Will writes:
I've always thought that the most efficient model for using blogs in
schools would be the one that collects student work from all courses
and then feeds it out by categories to teacher aggregators. That way
students build an online archive and ultimately, perhaps, portfolio of
work throughout their schooling. Teachers simply subscribe to the
relevant content from each student blog and comment back as necessary.
What an elegant solution. And another fine reason to incorporate blogs into my classroom. Right now, I use a discussion board for all of our online discussion. But what if I used blogs instead? A two-way, rather static and sometimes artificial conversation could be transformed into a very organic and interesting collection of student work -- and it would be a single click to have it all delivered to me -- a handy help for taking care of recording progress for the purpose of silly ol' grades.
I've still got lots of back-reading to do to better understand the potential of this technology -- but I like what I am seeing more and more.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: testing again
STATUS: Draft
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DATE: 01/25/2005 09:12:08 PM
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podcast? Download budtheteacher_test_file_12.mp3
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: A Blogger Born Every Minute
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/24/2005 09:25:28 PM
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I almost forgot. Today in my journalism class I mentioned the idea of having them blog regularly as a class activity. I asked them to check out a few of the blogs out there -- specifically, I asked them to look at the most recently updated blogs on TypePad (in large part because that was the first place I could think of). While many students said they didn't get why anyone would want to blog, two students immediately created their own blogs via free sites online. A third asked me about blogging this afternoon -- four hours after the class ended.
Many of my students are hungry for this -- just as I expected they would be. A place to talk and to create. It's exciting. Of course, I expected that, too. The excitement, that is.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Recorded a "Podcast"
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 01/24/2005 09:16:52 PM
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Been a busy Monday. Full day of classes, squirming baby -- and now I'm sitting at my computer trying to see if I am able to record a podcast here at home with little or no new equipment. Turns out that I am able to record and convert with no problems -- thanks to an open source program called Audacity -- but getting it to feed into my iPodder is an entirely different project. I think I've got to learn some basic RSS programming. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will do a random Google search for people in need of assistance with their podcast feeds.
It could happen.
Whether or not I get this done tonight is largely irrelevant. In the space of two days I decided that I was going to try this and have now almost made it happen. If I can handle the tech here, certainly my students and fellow teachers can.
This technology is going to change everything. I know it has changed my listening habits. The morning commute used to be Denver talk radio. Now, it's the Daily Source Code. Based on some of my reading lately, it already has -- and I'm not the first teacher to figure this out. More on that later. Now back to figuring out enclosures and other fun technical stuff.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Ethan Hawke -- Hamlet?!
STATUS: Draft
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CATEGORY: Film
DATE: 01/24/2005 07:44:22 AM
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I'm team-teaching a Shakespeare class this quarter (my school operates on nine-week quarters, as there are always students coming and going and we want to help them earn as much credit as possible while they are here). First up: Hamlet.
I had never seen the Ethan Hawke Hamlet before. It's a good version if you don't mind the jumping around from teh original scrip
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TITLE:
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DATE: 01/23/2005 09:35:15 PM
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http://www.weblogg-ed.com/2005/01/21#a3054
read this and post about it
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Johnny Carson Dead at 79
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Television
DATE: 01/23/2005 08:33:52 PM
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Johnny Carson has passed away.
I remember long ago sneaking around in order to stay up late enough to watch him and, after The Tonight Show, The Benny Hill Show. I didn't get why they were funny as a little boy, but I watched them just the same. Carson was funny and, to a young man, a kind and gentle person. I suspect the real truth was something different, but I am saddened by his death.
Why do we have such connections with celebrities?
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Potentials for Podcasting
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 01/23/2005 07:30:35 AM
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I'm sitting right now in a board meeting for the CSUWP. I am on the board as the Teacher as Researcher member -- which means I am tasked with discovering ways for teachers to incorporate inquiry and questioning into their teaching. The idea is that teachers who are questioning their practice are better teachers. That's pretty much the main idea behind this blog. I ask questions and seek answers in order to improve my teaching. I digress, too . . .
We're talking about plans for the future and opportunities for teachers to write and improve their teaching. Steve Sloan has this big idea about using podcasting to record college lectures -- but what if we were using podcasts to record teaching demonstrations? A teaching demonstration is essentially practice teaching -- this term
will probably mean nothing except to those of you who are familiar with
the National Writing Project.
How about students reading their work? Perhaps a weekly student presentation featuring a different student or students every week? Something like this?
I continue to get excited about the potential for podcasting. Now if only I knew more about how to create a podcast . . .
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: To Fark or Not to Fark
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/22/2005 04:11:21 PM
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So I often ask my journalism students to read the newspaper in class. I like newspapers better than books about newspapers, and, frankly, I think the students that I work with could stand to read as much as possible as often as possible. Okay -- all students could stand to do that. All people, too.
How could the ever be a problem? Well, one of my more tech-savvy students began sharing articles from Fark with us one day. I was excited and ecstatic. Fark is a site that complies links to the weird and scary news of the day -- all stuff that will hook reluctant readers. I thought it was great and began putting Fark up on the school's SMARTBoard, searching and reading the best of the weird with my students in class.
Until I discovered that Fark is occasionally a site that posts links to cute naked people. Oops. Can a public school teacher, charged to defend the public good and uphold standards of decency (and keep my job) use a website with such potentially problematic links?
My school district does have an Internet filter, so the smut can't get through -- or theoretically, it can't -- but can I use the site? Can I acknowledge its existence? Can I read from it during class? Ask my students to?
Or should I just pretend that such places don't exist in my sphere of influence, like so many other teachers out there, and deny a potentially useful resource to my students?
Help?
UPDATE: Let me be clear. I am not advocating for using the website and others like it as core classroom texts with high school students. What I am asking is this: Is it okay to acknowledge such sites and to discuss them with students that are already using them? Can I recommend, with disclaimers, such sites to some students? I can see arguments on both sides of this.
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AUTHOR: Natalie
EMAIL: Natalie.Barnes@comcast.net
IP: 129.82.250.45
URL:
DATE: 01/26/2005 12:13:34 PM
Bud,
Enjoyed reading your blog. Two things. First, as an art teacher we have to deal with cute nude people on a regular basis - gee, I'll bet you wish you taught art instead of English now huh? But seriously this is definately an issue in the art world. I believe that the body is a beautiful form that can be easily exploited. In college a professor shared what I think is a great differentiation between nudes (which would be viewed artisically) and naked pictures (which would be viewed somewhat differently....) His distinction: a nude woman (or man) has never had clothes on; a naked woman (or man)has taken her clothes off. Relating of course to the intention of the artist to speak to the artistic aspect or exploitive aspect.
What I have found with my students is to deal with the issue in a straightforward manner. In doing internet research on almost any artist or photographer the possiblity of encountering nudity is pretty strong. When students encounter this I acknowledge that yes, that person certainly doesn't have clothes on....but you know what, the human body is just a form so don't make so much out of it. I ask if they think that would be an appropriate example for thier research and when they say no I tell them to not waste their time on it and move on.
The second issue I wanted to raise was the whole idea of a 'secure blog.' (Might have read this in boardroom at the CSUWP site) I tried to keep up with the weblog for last summer's institute and opened my email one day to discover 403 spam messages that had been sent to my CSUWP account through the weblog. Hoping a 'secure blog' means this won't happen. Unfortunately this story leads to my third issue. Since the blog spam has rendered my CSUWP email virtually useless I didn't get the Ani email. Marcia forwarded it after I asked at the last writer's group. Ani is absolutely beautiful - and I'm a totally unbiased person here! I love the photo of Ani and Tiff, she is such a beautiful woman who looks like she is totally exhausted and thoroughly joyous over just having given birth. Congrats to you all! Hope to see/hear/connect one day soon in real life.
Natalie
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: bud_hunt@comcast.net
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://budtheteacher.typepad.com
DATE: 01/23/2005 08:20:44 PM
I think you misunderstood me. I do not require the reading of Fark -- never would, as I think that's crozzing the line. My question was this -- is it okay to be aware of and to discuss such sites with my students? Isn't it better to guide them through the rough stuff than to pretend that it doesn't exist?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dee
EMAIL:
IP: 69.243.180.214
URL:
DATE: 01/22/2005 04:18:05 PM
you're kidding, right? speaking as a parent, i would not be pleased. there are plenty of other newsworthy, informative sites on the internet to choose from for your instruction.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Experiments in Podcasting
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Podcasting
DATE: 01/22/2005 03:16:41 PM
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It took all of five minutes to find several places online that offer podcasting tutorials or resources for newbies like me. That's good news -- the only problem now is this: who do I trust?
Found a site by Gary S. Stager that looks pretty interesting. Chock full of podcasting resources. My favorite so far? Audacity, an open source audio recorder. I used to use a similar program when I worked at a radio station. It only took a few minutes to figure out that:
1. I'm going to need a better microphone, but I can record right now off of my laptop's built-in.
2. This is actually far easier than I thought. Wow.
Off to have some fun . . .
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Why Podcasting?
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Blogging
CATEGORY: Podcasting
CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/22/2005 02:18:25 PM
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If you accept that blogging does have lots of potentials in the classroom, it doesn't take very much to get you to see that podcasting has the same, if not more, potential for students. When I think about posdcasting, I am thinking about the studnet production of short regular podcasts. From a pedological perspective, podcasting is alluring for many, many reasons. But one of the biggest is that I, and every student I have ever had, is scared to death of speech class.
Can't podcasting replace the traditional speech classroom as a way for students to both learn how to organize and present information? I can see students using many, many different "show" formats and presentation styles to produce podcasts that will be authentic -- real people will hear and be interested in them.
Some of my students, I suspect, will find podcasts like the Sound of the Day interesting and novel. They'll want to figure out their own little fun presentations. That's fine by me -- they'll have to learn a great deal in the process. Others will probably want to be the next Adam Curry.
Either way, they'll be preparing and presenting actual content, content far more interesting than the typical "Argumentative Speech." They will have to consider their audiences and make decisions that honor those considerations. Also, they just might begin a conversation with those audiences -- which doesn't always happen at the end of the school day after a student's "Abortion is Bad" persuasive speech.
Again, it all comes back to students participating in real conversations with the real world. Simple in concept -- realistic in application?
I hope so. Help me figure it out.
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Why blogging?
STATUS: Publish
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CATEGORY: Teaching Reflection
DATE: 01/22/2005 12:16:52 PM
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So.
Now that I'm here in this space, I think it makes sense to declare, both for you and for me, just why I think these new technologies belong in the high school English/language arts classroom. This post will focus on blogging -- the next on podcasting. I am squeezing these posts in between Saturday chores and baby care.
Why blogging? Because I teach writing to struggling writers. I want them to approach their writing knowing a few basic things:
1. They are writing for a real audience.
At school, students are often writing to the teacher to prove to the teacher that they are learning something. But what, except how to write to a teacher, are they learning? Is writing to the teacher a skill that is useful outside of school? Really?
Not in my life. And, heck, I work in a school.
Isn't it more realistic to teach writing by having students engage in writing to a real audience? Yes, I think so. In fact, that's why I have taught journalism. The school newspaper at least creates a school-wide audience that students can write to -- which is better than that silly old audience of one.
Blogging ups the ante. By posting online, my students would be writing to the entire world, in theory -- about as big an audience as one can get. And what better audience than everyone and no one at the same time?
2. No writing exists in a vacuum. Texts are connected.
Students, and lots of adults, for that matter, don't seem to understand that texts relate to one another. The letters to the editor in today's paper relate to yesterday's newspaper articles. (Yes, overly simplistic, but a good place to show a concrete text to text connection.) The novels written today speak to the novels written in the early 20th Century. Sylvia Plath relates to Anne Bradstreet. Kurt Vonnegut has a job because H.G. Wells came first. You get my point.
The convention of hyperlinking text in blog posts is a very concrete way of demonstrating to students how texts speak to one another. Better still, if students are creating their own blogs with hyperlinks, they'll be forced to think differently about how texts talk to each other. I can't really ask them to do this type of thinking on a piece of loose-leaf paper with a number 2 pencil.
3. Students today need to understand computers.
I work with students who may not have computers in their homes. But they'll be looking for jobs in a world where computers are more and more commonplace. Even the freaking cash-register at McDonald's has more computing power than the computers I used when I was a kid playing with LOGO Turtles. I need a way to break my students' fear of computers, and get them up to speed to navigate in the techno world. But I don't want them to simply be consumers of technology -- I want them to be producers, to control their own small portion of the Inkernet.
More on this later -- there are leftovers to heat and a baby to feed. Interested in your thoughts.
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AUTHOR: Bud Hunt
EMAIL: bud_hunt@comcast.net
IP: 67.172.140.12
URL: http://budtheteacher.typepad.com
DATE: 01/23/2005 08:21:47 PM
Redneck --
Wish I could help you -- but I don't. Yet. Let me know waht you discover.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Redneck Woman
EMAIL: scarlettsecret21@hotmail.com
IP: 12.179.85.61
URL: http://www.geocities.com/redneckwoman1965nc/index.html
DATE: 01/22/2005 05:40:23 PM
Comments... You're the writing teacher. Obviously, you can WRITE... I would like to know if I can... and, I believe I can... but, at any rate; have any ideas of websites PAY for writing content for their sites and if so, would you send a link my way...? Nice to meet you - Redneck Woman
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AUTHOR: Bud
TITLE: Welcome -- First Post
STATUS: Publish
ALLOW COMMENTS: 1
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CATEGORY: Introduction
DATE: 01/21/2005 09:53:53 PM
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Greetings.
I am Bud Hunt. If you've found this blog, odds are that you're either VERY bored or I asked you to stop by. Hopefully, over time, I am wrong about that.
I am beginning this blog because I am a teacher and I am in need of an education. I recently had the experience of winning an iPod in a raffle. I then took two weeks off of school due to the birth of my first child. During this time, I had some time, amidst diapers and sleep deprivation, to think about my teaching and these new technologies. This introduced me to a whole new world of content and communication. It's an exciting place, the blogosphere, but I am particularly interested in the wide new world of podcasting. I am learning and discovering that podcasting and blogging have incredible potential for teaching.
As a high school English teacher at an alternative high school in Colorado, I am constantly looking for ways to incorporate student choice into my classroom. Further, I am interested in finding real audiences for the writing that I ask my students to do. Podcasting and blogging have natural, built-in audiences -- you, the people of the World Wide Web (do we still say that, or is it all just the Internet again?)
Anyway, not to get too long winded, but I intend to use this blog as a space to learn more about what keeping a blog is like -- how to develop the habit and so on. I am curious to see if my students can keep up with such a task and find interesting things to write about. More importantly, I hope to meet people who can help with my education on all things blog and podcasting. I have some good teachers out there in the ethersphere -- I've been subscribing to podcasts and blogs right and left. Three days ago, I understood the concept of an aggregator, but I'd never used one -- not so anymore. But am I using the RIGHT aggregator? Is there such a thing? How do I help students learn to code webpages using XML? Rss? What's the freaking difference? Do I have to give up my social life to learn these new technologies?
These are just a few of the many questions I will be asking and exploring in this space. On top of those, I am a new father juggling the responsibilities of my family and my students. I have to find a balance.
Your tips, thoughts and ideas are definitely encouraged. Send me e-mail. Talk with me. Let's learn together.
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